Despite Selling Its Meme Coin on a Market, 80% of the $TRUMP Token Is Owned by People Connected to the Trump Organization

Although the meme coin is sold on a market and the money does not go directly to Trump, it is estimated that some 80% of the coin is owned by people connected with the Trump Organization

Former President Donald Trump is attending a private dinner on Thursday evening with the top 25 investors in a meme coin named after him, where he is expected to discuss investing in the U.S. and opportunities to influence public policy.

The event, at the sprawling Hilltop estate in the Old Coast Valley, will begin with a VIP reception at 5:30 p.m. before dinner at 7 p.m. It is the highlight of a weekend retreat for investors in the $TRUMP token, which is sold on the market and not a direct payment to Trump.

However, some 80% of the coin is estimated to be owned by people connected with the Trump Organization, who are helped by any increase in its value. The dinner also presents opportunities for those to meet Trump and attempt to influence public policy, including foreign nationals such as confirmed guest Chinese-born crypto billionaire and Tron founder Justin Sun.

“Anyone who was rightfully worried about a president’s son selling mediocre art to donors should be able to clearly see the huge ethics concerns of possible foreign interests donating directly to the president through an anonymous meme coin,” Republican strategist Doug Heye told the Washington Examiner.

Heye was referencing former President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, who sold art for about $1.5 million between 2021 and 2024, though the former first son told a federal court this year he can no longer fund lawsuits because he is selling fewer pieces now that his father is out of office.

Another example is former President Bill Clinton inviting donors to sleep in the Lincoln Bedroom in the White House’s private residence.

But the $TRUMP meme coin has been criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike for being a lobbying backdoor for foreign nationals, who are barred, for example, from directly donating to campaigns or spending on elections.

Although there are other backdoors, including foreign governments hiring U.S. lobbyists to act on their behalf under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, the dinner disregards the perception problem.

To that end, the White House has distanced itself from the dinner, an aide telling the Washington Examiner it is “a personal dinner the president is attending on his personal time” and his staff has “nothing” to do with it.

“The President is working to secure good deals for the American people, not for himself,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told the Washington Examiner. “President Trump only acts in the best interests of the American public, which is why they overwhelmingly reelected him to this office, despite years of lies and false accusations against him and his businesses from the fake news media.”

During Thursday’s briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters she would confer with Trump about making the dinner’s guest list publicly available but would not answer whether the president sought legal advice over the event.

“I have also stated previously from this podium that the president is abiding by all conflict of interest laws that are applicable to the president,” Leavitt told reporters. “It’s absurd for anyone to insinuate that this president is profiting off of the presidency. This president was incredibly successful before giving it all up to serve our country publicly. Not only has he lost wealth, but he also almost lost his life. He has sacrificed a lot to be here.”

Fellow Republican strategist John Feehery similarly downplayed concerns, contending Trump’s “guests probably perceive that they can influence him, but I think he is going to do what he wants to do.”

But that has not stopped critics, including Common Cause Legislative Affairs Senior Director Aaron Scherb, from excoriating Trump for the dinner.

“He’s using his office to openly solicit bribes from foreign investors and governments, all while lining the pockets of his billionaire donors, and tonight’s meme coin dinner is yet another example,” Scherb told the Washington Examiner. “From selling ‘golden visas’ to building luxury properties overseas to promoting a certain car company on government property, Trump is essentially putting a sign on the White House saying that the U.S. government is open to the highest bidder.”

The dinner comes one day after the Department of Defense accepted a $400 million Boeing 747 gift from Qatar as a temporary replacement for Air Force One before it is donated to Trump’s presidential library.

The White House has repeated that the plane is a present to the country and not Trump amid criticism of the exchange based on Qatar’s past support of Hamas, as the president sought more foreign direct investments from the Qataris during last week’s trip to the Middle East. The U.S. Air Force will now have to spend hundreds of millions of dollars retrofitting the aircraft to operate like a flying Oval Office.

“They’re giving the United States Air Force a jet, OK, and it’s a great thing,” Trump told reporters this week at the White House.

But even conservative activist Laura Loomer has scrutinized the deal, calling Qatar “ji