President Donald Trump’s Gala Dinner for the largest $TRUMP memecoin holders was criticised as a means for foreign entities barred from contributing to U.S. political campaigns to donate money to the president through token purchases

Event date

May 22, 2025

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Thirty-five Members of Congress wrote a letter to the Department of Justice's Public Integrity Section calling for "an immediate investigation" into the dinner on Thursday, specifically citing concerns about "potential corruption and emoluments clause violations." The letter, signed by crypto-friendly lawmakers like Ritchie Torres and Shri Thanedar, as well as more critical representatives like Brad Sherman, noted that companies have explicitly said they would buy $TRUMP tokens to try and influence the president. "U.S. law prohibits foreign persons from contributing to U.S. political campaigns," the letter said. "However, the $TRUMP memecoin, including the promotion of a dinner promising exclusive access to the President, opens the door for foreign governments to buy influence with the President, all without disclosing their identities." The lawmakers "urged" the Public Integrity Section to "determine whether this dinner event violates the federal bribery statute or the foreign emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution."

Critics called the move corrupt, pointing to the fact that foreign buyers who otherwise could not legally donate money to the president were purchasing tokens, as well as the opacity surrounding their buys — many of the dinner's attendees are unknown, and some even pointed to the ability to maintain anonymity as a factor in their decision to go, according to the Washington Post.

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Week 21 of 2025