On the evening of May 22, 2025 local time, 220 cryptocurrency investors gathered together to have a sumptuous dinner with Trump at a golf club on the banks of the Potomac River and enjoy the magnificent view of the Potomac River. The admission ticket was the meme coin $TRUMP officially issued by Trump.
The dinner, which was nothing less than a gilded game of crypto, was jointly announced on April 23 by CIC Digital LLC (a subsidiary of the Trump family’s conglomerate) and Fight Fight Fight LLC, who billed the event as “the most exclusive invitation in the world” and offered lucky attendees the opportunity to “hear President Trump speak in person about the future of cryptocurrency.”
Before the dinner started, the official announcement prohibited guests from live streaming or bringing video recording equipment, but so far, this requirement does not seem to have been implemented. On X and WeChat Moments, many guests have begun to post their own photos of the dinner. Based on the currently public photos of the scene, BlockBeats reviewed and sorted out the dinner and some interesting details.
Feast inside, parade outside
It is reported that in addition to Justin Sun, well-known cryptocurrency entrepreneurs such as Ronin Network co-founder Jihoz.ron and Magic Eden co-founder and CEO Jack Lu were present and posted updates on social media about their attendance at the banquet. Trump himself maintained his classic appearance and landed at Mar-a-Lago in a Marine One helicopter.
TRUMP dinner scene, source from X
After a brief introduction by the host, Trump walked out of the curtain and gave a brief speech to the guests. Interestingly, when introducing Trump, the host once again saluted the people and used very anti-establishment terms such as crypto president and 48th President of the United States.
Photos of Trumps appearance, source: X
$50,000 Trump White Meal
The dinners $55,000 menu was also revealed on social media. According to photos taken on the spot, the menu starts with an appetizer, offering $TRUMP holders an heirloom tomato burrata salad with fresh basil pesto, balsamic vinegar and green sprouts.
There are three main courses to choose from: fillet steak with a rich red wine sauce, mashed potatoes and asparagus; or pan-fried salmon with lemon cream sauce, wild rice and asparagus; vegetarian guests can choose stuffed mushrooms filled with nutritious quinoa and spinach, served with roasted red pepper sauce. Finally, the silky and rich chocolate mousse cake is the dessert.
Photos of dishes at the dinner, sourced from the Internet
Similar dishes are common white meals in the United States, and are sold in Trump Tower in New York and Trump International Hotel in Chicago. The editor roughly calculated the prices of the dishes for todays dinner based on the menus of these two restaurants.
Trump Tower and hotel menus, source from Trump Tower official website
Take TRUMP GRILL in New York as an example. The salad with extra shrimps costs $32, the New York prime sirloin steak with black truffle fries costs $53, and the Brooklyn Black Forest cake with Luxardo cherries, Tahitian vanilla, fresh cream and chocolate sauce costs $15, for a total of $100. With a 20% tip and about 9% consumption tax, the total cost is no more than $130.
Trump Tower restaurant and dishes, source from Trump Tower official website
However, according to the requirements for participating in the dinner, the 220th and last guest of TRUMP coin held 4,196.117 TRUMP coins, which was worth about $55,000 based on the closing price of TRUMP when the list was locked on May 12. Cryptocurrency guys are also working hard to eat a white meal from Trump.
$100,000 Trump Gold Watch
Another thing that attracted everyones attention at the meeting was the Trump Gold Watch worn by Justin Sun. At this banquet, the top 25 top investors enjoyed a private VIP reception with Trump, and the top four investors also received a limited edition Trump Tourbillon watch. As the top holder of TRUMP, Justin Sun became one of the guests who received this gift.
Sun Yuchen wore a Trump Tourbillon watch at the dinner. Source: X
According to official sources, each watch is worth $100,000. Each Trump Tourbillon watch is numbered, worth $100,000, and is limited to 147 pieces worldwide. President Trump owns watch number 1. Whether it is the watchs hunger marketing or the extravagant rich gold color, it has Trumps strong personal characteristics.
Three Trump Tourbillon watches, source from Trump Tourbillon official website
Trumps love for gold is a symbol of his personal brand. He sees gold as a symbol of power. From Trump Tower in New York to Trump International Hotel and Mar-a-Lago in Florida, golden decorations can be seen everywhere. He decorated the Oval Office of the White House with gold and splendor, including gold badges, gold statues, gold paperweights and coasters, all of which reflect his taste and preference. In Trumps eyes, white represents surrender and weakness, while gold is a symbol of supremacy, just as he regards whoever has the gold makes the rules as the golden rule of negotiation.
White House interior; Trump golden paperweight; Trump account, source from X
Mass protests, Democratic Party scolds
It is worth noting that this crypto dinner is not the only crypto event held by Trump this month. On May 5, Trump held a cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence innovator dinner at the Trump National Golf Club in Virginia. The standard for attending the fundraising dinner was $1.5 million per person, and special guest David Sacks was also invited. It was one of the most expensive political fundraisers in recent years.
According to the New York Times, Trumps series of copper-flow corruption behaviors have been criticized by all sectors of society, including the Democratic Party. On May 23, protesters gathered outside the Trump National Golf Club in Washington to protest the crypto dinner held for Trumps top memecoin holders. At the entrance to the dinner, dozens of protesters shouted Shame, shame, shame, holding signs with slogans such as Stop crypto corruption, Publish the guest list and No king.
Protesters outside the dinner, source: X
Perhaps in order to reduce the impact, the agenda of 25 VIPs visit to the White House was also deleted from the $TRUMP website.
Among the protesters was Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, who shouted at the entrance to Trumps golf course: This is the crypto corruption club and called the dinner the Mount Everest of corruption.
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren said that Trumps private dinner with his token holders may constitute a corrupt act of using influence for personal gain and called for an ethics investigation. U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff publicly called for Trumps impeachment, saying, When the current president of the United States sells access rights to people who actually pay him directly, there is no doubt that this reaches the level of an impeachable offense.
In addition, the U.S. Constitution stipulates that federal officials may not accept gifts from foreign governments, and the $TRUMP token holders are anonymous, so it is difficult to rule out foreign forces gaining political access by purchasing tokens. Democratic Senator Warren has joined nine other members of Congress in writing to the Office of Ethics, asking for an investigation into whether Trump has accepted bribes in disguise through token sales.
$TRUMP was launched on the Solana chain on January 17, 2025, with an initial total issuance of 1 billion tokens. 20 million (20%) were sold through the ICO, and the remaining 80 million were held by the above two companies, accounting for 80%. In the days after trading began, the value of the 20% TRUMP tokens issued soared to $14 billion. On paper, Trumps net worth increased by tens of billions of dollars almost overnight.
The coin’s value has since fallen more than 80% from its peak. But Trump’s announcement of the dinner on April 23 sparked another trading frenzy, sending the memecoin’s price soaring. As market intermediaries, Fight Fight Fight and CIC Digital likely earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in transaction fees.
The difference between the dinner party guy and the Democrats
At present, the most popular video circulating at the dinner is from Justin Sun. As the big brother of the list, he thanked Trump for everything he has done for the crypto industry on the podium. He said: Just 100 days ago, they were hunting down cryptocurrency people everywhere, and we couldnt hold such a grand event in Washington. All the people in the cryptocurrency circle gathered in the United States to do cryptocurrency things. This is the best thing I can think of in my life.
Justin Sun gave a speech at the dinner. Image source: X
Sun, a major supporter of Trump, invested $75 million in Trumps family project World Liberty Financial (WLFI). Subsequently, his pending civil fraud case was halted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the grounds of the interests of both parties and the public interest.
The SECs move was questioned by lawmakers at a congressional hearing on May 21. Democratic Congressman Glenn Ivey of Maryland questioned SEC Chairman Paul Atkins relationship with President Trumps Meme Coin and cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun, saying that something smells wrong and hoped that the SEC would investigate the matter.
As Trumps personal interests become increasingly tied to the crypto industry, doubts within the Democratic Party about Trumps use of the crypto industry for corruption and abuse of power for personal gain are growing, which has also affected the progress of crypto legislation.
On May 22, the stablecoin GENIUS Act passed the debate motion with 69 votes in favor and 31 votes against, entering the revision process. The bill may become the first federal-level stablecoin regulatory framework in the United States, and is generally believed by the industry to be likely to reshape the entire stablecoin market.
But the Democrats rejected the bill the next day. On May 23, Axios reported that senior Democrats, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Jeff Merkley, would submit an amendment to the GENIUS Act to prevent the US President from profiting from stablecoins.
Previously, the Democrats had fiercely obstructed the bill. On May 9, the U.S. Senate rejected the bill, with Democrats demanding the inclusion of a clause that explicitly prohibits administrative officials, including Trump and his family members, from holding or trading cryptocurrencies, and strengthening anti-corruption clauses.
Democrats earliest questions about Trumps interests came from a report in the Wall Street Journal.
On March 13, 2025, the Wall Street Journal broke the news that the Trump family was negotiating to acquire a large number of shares in Binance.US. Although it was strongly denied by CZ, it was confirmed by Bloomberg and hinted that the two parties would soon launch a stablecoin. This stablecoin is the USD 1 that was recently launched on Binance. That month, MGX, an investment company headquartered in Abu Dhabi, announced that it would invest $2 billion to buy shares in Binance, but at that time, no one knew the specific channels for investing in Binance.
At the end of April, WLFI and CZ official social media accounts released photos of the three co-founders of WLFI meeting with CZ in Abu Dhabi. On May 1, Trumps second son Eric Trump said that the US dollar stablecoin (USD 1) issued by World Liberty Financial has been officially selected as the official stablecoin to complete MGXs $2 billion investment in Binance.
CZ meets with the founder of WLFI, source: X
When the lights of the dinner party on the Potomac River came on, the krypton gold players and the traffic president completed a two-way run, and the essence of this crypto carnival has long surpassed the simple currency circle hype. It is not only another explosion of Suns marketing, but also the realization of the high combination of political power and virtual assets. The absurd contrast of indoor banquets and outdoor demonstrations also highlights the increasingly antagonistic attitudes of the two parties in the United States towards encryption.
Whether he really wants to help the industry rise, or he wants to create a new ATM for his family, this crypto president is increasingly at the center of controversy. The grand crypto dinner may just be an ambitious show, and it remains to be seen what kind of storm it will stir up in the party struggle.
