More Than 200 Wealthy Crypto Bros Gathered for a Private Dinner with Trump at His Golf Club

They dined on filet mignon and halibut while the president stood at a podium regaling them with tales of his 2024 victory. By . Updated Apr 4, 2023 at 9:18 a.m. PDT.

More than 200 wealthy crypto bros gathered for a private event at President Donald Trump’s golf club just outside Washington, DC, on Thursday night — dining on filet mignon and halibut while the president stood at a podium recounting his 2024 victory.

The black-tie dinner was a special reward for the top 220 holders of the president’s personal $TRUMP meme coin, with those in the room having contributed millions in investment in his crypto token. The 25 biggest investors had an even more exclusive privilege — access to a small VIP reception with the president.

Guests were required to complete a background check to attend the evening’s festivities, according to a copy of the invitation seen by CNN. The invite told them not to arrive before 5:30 p.m., with the dinner starting at 7 p.m.

Many of the attendees watched as Marine One touched down on his golf course at his Sterling, Virginia club — then were personally greeted by the president.

Donning a blue suit and his famous red tie, he told the cheering crowd: “Hello, what a nice place. Did you get to see the helicopter?” according to a video shared by attendees on social media. “How do you like this location?”

The dinner, which was billed by the White House as an event Trump was attending in his personal capacity, flurried a great deal of concern back in Washington, with critics’ chief concern being that it presented foreigners with the opportunity to purchase access to the president. The Constitution bans a president from receiving foreign gifts without Congressional consent.

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut characterized the dinner as an “unprecedented pay-to-play scheme to provide access to the presidency to the highest bidder.” Sen. Chris Murphy, also a Connecticut Democrat, called it a “scam” and “the most brazenly corrupt thing a President has ever done.” Even Republican crypto advocate Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming said the event gives her “pause.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed heavily back on those claims during a press briefing hours before the dinner, telling reporters it was “absurd for anyone to insinuate that this president is profiting off of the presidency.”

Attendees

Justin Sun, a Chinese-born crypto mogul who, until recently, was facing civil fraud charges in the United States, was not only among those in attendance — but was lauded as the top holder of Trump’s meme coin.

His last name sat atop a poster displayed at the dinner naming the “Top 220 $TRUMP dinner winners,” with an investment of $1,319,904.266 in “time weighted $TRUMP holdings,” according to a video posted by Sun to Instagram.

Sun also posted a video declaring he was awarded a “Trump Golden Tourbillon” watch.

Christoph Heuermann, who declares himself the “Youngest German in all countries of the world” on his Instagram page, was also in attendance. He shared a series of photos from the event, including a snapshot of the poster where his name was listed among the top 220 holders of Trump’s crypto token.

“I got to see some very rich crypto billionaires,” Heuermann wrote in one such Instagram post. “But the majority of the crowd were young professionals from the crypto space hailing mostly from Europe. A small share of Chinese and a few Americans, but a great diversity of most European countries. People working mostly for crypto exchanges, funds, market makers or just trading themselves. Very nice networking.”

He claimed Trump gave a 20-minute speech “and didn’t interact with the crowd other than enjoying being celebrated,” according to his post. “Even VIP token holders (I know some) couldn’t speak or even shake hands with the president. It was still very much worth it to experience the president live and watch his mightily secured arrival and departure.”

Other attendees included former NBA player Lamar Odom, who was greeted with boos as he walked to the event, according to a video posted on social media; Brendan McCafferty, a self-described media executive who was on the VIP invitation list; and Nick Pinto, a marketing director at his family’s law firm in New Jersey.

Odom later shared photos of himself posing in a black hat with a photo of Trump, the words “Fight, Fight, Fight” and the president’s signature displayed over it.

He also posted photos of himself receiving a laminated black collector’s card stating he was a top 220 $TRUMP token holder. The card featured the same Trump image.

Pinto told CNBC that he spent half a million dollars on the $TRUMP meme token in order to attend the dinner.

Despite many of the guests sharing about their attendance online, a