WASHINGTON — President Trump lavished praise on top buyers of his eponymous cryptocurrency Thursday night at a private gathering at his golf club in northern Virginia — as Democrats in Congress and protesters outside the venue called the 220-person event an example of shameful self-dealing by the commander in chief.
“I really think you’re going to end up being very proud of what you did, because you’re pioneers, you’re here very early. It’s very early. It’s a very young industry, and you’ve done very well,” Trump, 78, said in the closed-to-press speech, snippets of which were posted to Instagram by a guest.
“I just want to thank you. I want to congratulate you, and I want to let you know that I’m with you all the way.”
The event for top $TRUMP buyers had stoked controversy for weeks, though White House aides insisted that investors were not receiving special treatment from the administration.
As part of the gala, the president attended an intimate cocktail reception with a group of 25 big-money buyers of his digital currency — topped by China-born Justin Sun, who invested $1,319,904.266 in “time weighted $TRUMP holdings,” according to signage at the event reviewed by CNN.
In February, the Securities and Exchange Commission paused a civil fraud case against Sun after he publicly touted his purchase of the cryptocurrency, which launched in January.
The president reportedly has reaped millions from the Solana blockchain memecoin during its four months in existence.
A Trump family company and an associated firm have earned $320.19 million in fees, according to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, Reuters reports.
Outside Thursday’s event, protesters held signs including “Stop Crypto Corruption” and “Release the guest list.”
Congressional Democrats are likely to investigate Trump’s burgeoning crypto empire if they regain power following next year’s midterm elections — with the president’s business interests, including a series of hotel and resort deals in a trio of Mideast countries he visited last week, forming a potential basis for a third impeachment push against him.
“Donald Trump’s dinner is an orgy of corruption,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said Thursday. “The American people have no idea who is buying access to the president, and no idea what they are getting in return.”
GUEST LIST
Although the guest list was not publicly released, many of the attendees who dined on filet mignon and pan-seared halibut are known because they disclosed their plans to attend or posted on social media while there.
Vincent Liu, the chief investment officer of Taiwanese crypto company Kronos Research, told Reuters it was an important networking event for him and that “that kind of access is rare, and it represents how digital assets are entering the mainstream.”
Sheldon Zia, founder of the Cayman Islands crypto exchange BitMart, tweeted photos of the ballroom and some of its guests.
New Yorker Vincent Deriu reportedly said he was attending after investing $116,000, while German investor Christoph Heuermann posted footage of Trump’s remarks.
“I got to see some very rich crypto billionaires,” he wrote on Instagram
“But the majority of the crowd were young professionals from the crypto space hailing mostly from Europe. A fair 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.”
The White House brushed off criticism of the event, while deputy press secretary Anna Kelly telling Reuters: “President Trump’s assets are in a trust managed by his children. There are no conflicts of interest.”
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at her Thursday briefing that Trump, who previously led a real estate and branding empire, had lost money while serving as America’s chief executive.
“The president is abiding by all conflict of interest laws that are applicable to the president,” she said. “It’s hard for anyone to insinuate that this president is profiting off of his presidency. This president was incredibly successful before giving it all up to serve our country publicly. And not only has he lost wealth, but he also almost lost his life.
“He has sacrificed a lot to be here and to suggest otherwise is just frankly completely absurd.”
