Imagine if, the moment Joe Biden took office, he launched a brand-new company with Hunter Biden. Then he used his main social media platform to rally investors—dangling a private dinner with him as a prize for the most generous backers. Now imagine all of those investors remained completely anonymous, leaving the public in the dark about who might now hold sway over the president.
Picture the reaction: Jim Jordan practically turning purple with rage. Jesse Watters frothing on Fox News. The New York Times editorial board practically fainting in indignation. The story would dominate every front page, every screen, for weeks.
Now replace Biden with Donald Trump—because this is exactly what Trump just did.
And unless you follow the news closely, there’s a good chance you haven’t even heard about it. If you have, it was probably a passing headline, buried in the noise. But as Senator Chris Murphy said this week: “This isn’t Trump just being Trump. The Trump coin scam is the most brazenly corrupt thing a President has ever done. Not close.”
Here’s what happened: Trump launched a meme coin called $Trump (nicknamed “strump,” appropriately enough). He announced that the top 220 buyers of this coin between now and mid-May will be invited to an exclusive dinner at his D.C.-area golf club on May 22. Since the announcement, tens of millions of dollars have poured into the coin, with at least 27 wallets each holding over 100,000 coins—a million-dollar stake. And of course, the identities behind those wallets? Entirely anonymous.
This isn’t some startup with a business plan or public accountability. It’s not a company with employees or a product. It’s not registered with the SEC. It’s just a hype-fueled, valueless digital token—literally created out of thin air, and now being used as a gateway to the former and possibly future president of the United States.
Trump launched the coin right before inauguration. Its value soared to $75 before crashing to $7 as the economy tanked under his leadership. Now, with the price dipping again, he’s sweetening the pot with the dinner invite to reignite interest.
Let’s be clear: a meme coin has no intrinsic value. As Investopedia puts it, most are created without any use case beyond being tradeable. They’re get-rich-quick schemes—pure grifts. And Trump is using his presidential status to enrich himself through one.
While supposedly planning mass deportations, a confrontation with China, and cuts to social services like Meals on Wheels, Trump took time to ask himself: “How can I cash in?” And so came the meme coin hustle. When the grift started losing steam, he threw in an exclusive dinner—turning access to a former president into a crypto lottery.
And the most troubling part? We may never know who bought their way into that dinner. Foreign interests, shadowy billionaires, or even hostile powers could be at that table, buying influence without scrutiny.
This isn’t a potential conflict of interest—it is a conflict of interest. It’s corruption, pure and simple. Historically unprecedented.
Compare it to past scandals: Watergate? Criminal, but different. Teapot Dome? A crooked contract—small-time by comparison. Credit Mobilier? Bribes, yes, but indirect. Even the Clinton-era Lincoln Bedroom controversy, as tacky as it was, never funneled personal wealth directly to the president.
What Trump has done is something new: turning the office of the presidency into a cryptocurrency hustle, wrapped in secrecy, and openly monetized for personal gain.
And yet, somehow, it’s barely making headlines.
