When President Donald Trump Welcomes Top Holders of His Meme Coin to Dinner Thursday Night

It's a sign of the mystery surrounding the meme coin dinner, despite calls for transparency and concern about foreign investors buying access to the president.

President Donald Trump will be joined by a pseudonymous hacker known online as Ogle, who plans to wear a bandana to avoid being “doxxed,” when he invites the top holders of his meme coin for dinner on Thursday night.

It’s a measure of the mystery surrounding the event, despite calls for transparency and concern about foreign investors buying access to the president.

Trump’s meme coin company last month announced that the top owners of the cryptocurrency would win an invite to dinner. The average cost of admission was over $1 million, according to one analysis.

But the company never disclosed the names of the guests, and the Trump administration has largely ignored inquiries from the press.

A group of Democratic senators on Thursday morning held a press conference outside the Trump National Golf Club in Virginia to picket the dinner and call on the former president to at least make the guest list public.

“Release the names of the people who are going to be there,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said. “At least let the American people know who has bought access to the president. Release the names. If there is nothing wrong, if you think this is all aboveboard, then what are you hiding?”

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said the event was unrelated to Trump’s official duties in response to a question about the guest list on Thursday.

“The president is attending it in his personal time. It is not a White House dinner, it is not taking place here at the White House,” she said.

Here’s what we do know about who is attending.

Justin Son, a Controversial Crypto Magnate

The most famous — or “infamous,” according to a competitor — guest at the dinner is Justin Son, the Chinese-born crypto billionaire behind the blockchain Tron.

Only two years ago, Son was in the crosshairs of a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit and a reported Justice Department investigation.

After Son bought $75 million worth of tokens in a separate Trump crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, the agency paused its lawsuit in February.

Son went on to expand his holdings in Trump crypto ventures by snapping up roughly $23 million worth of the $TRUMP coin, which Trump announced hours before his inauguration. That won him the right to attend dinner with Trump on Thursday night.

It’s a remarkable turnaround for a man who, according to the Wall Street Journal, once avoided visiting the U.S. for fear of arrest. While Son has essentially bought himself a White House seal of approval via the $TRUMP coin, he cast the dinner as primarily a networking opportunity in a post on X.

“Excited to be attending the dinner with Trump tomorrow night. A unique experience to meet interesting people from the crypto world and discuss the future of blockchain technology,” Son wrote.

Ice, a Co-Founder of the Singaporean Crypto Company MemeCore

In legal documents, the creators of the $TRUMP coin have cast it as more akin to a playing card than an investment. Perhaps it’s appropriate, then, that another top buyer of the $TRUMP coin is a Singaporean company promising to “reignite global meme culture.”

That company, MemeCore, is sending a co-founder who goes by the name of Ice to the crypto dinner, according to several published reports.

Like several other investors in the $TRUMP coin, MemeCore’s purchases seem to be more an exercise in branding in the hype-driven world of crypto than an endorsement of the president himself.

“Donald Trump is more than a political figure; he is arguably one of the iconic living memes. His rise represents the power of memes to influence culture, perception, and movements — principles that align with MemeCore’s vision of a decentralized, community-driven future,” a company spokesperson said.

Ogle, a Crypto Security Expert

Another anonymous figure attending the dinner is Ogle, a so-called “white hat” hacker who has been involved in returning the crypto tokens looted during hacks to their owners.

Ogle last year announced that he was signing on to another Trump crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, as an adviser. He claimed his compensation for that project is “minimal.” He has also acknowledged trading the $TRUMP coin but cast himself as ignorant about how much he has made.

In interviews about the dinner, Ogle has described himself as somewhat of a gawking outsider.

“Curiosity is literally it. I have no expectations; I’m just curious to see how it’ll go. I’m hoping it’ll be fun — and hoping they’ll serve McDonald’s,” he told the outlet Sherwood.

Here’s How Much the Guests at Trump’s Crypto Summit Donated to His Inauguration

The involvement of Ogle and Ice highlights one feature of the dinner that has most angered critics. Trump has so far yet to release a guest list, and the public has only learned the true identities of members of a pseudonymous “leaderboard