Trump’s memecoin dinner welcomed guests holding tokens linked to alt-right symbols and racist language
As US president Donald Trump left the stage at his golf club near Washington, DC, on Thursday night, he pointed to the crowd, brought his index finger to his temple—as if to say: You know what’s coming—then began to dance. To the beat of “Y.M.C.A” by The Village People, Trump shimmied, gyrated, and pumped his arms above his head.
Looking on were more than 200 people who had been invited to the Trump National Golf Club for a private gala dinner. They had won their seats by purchasing large quantities of Trump’s own crypto coin—TRUMP—some holding millions of dollars’ worth.
On the menu for the evening was pan-seared halibut with a citrus reduction, a filet mignon with demi glaze—and, the attendees hoped, a chance to speak to the US president. Four of the guests agreed to tell WIRED about their experience.
By late afternoon, the dinner guests had started to filter through the gates of the golf club. By comparison to Trump’s previous banquets, thronging with DC insiders and members of the Silicon Valley elite, the crypto dinner attracted a mismatched collection of oddballs: independent traders rubbed shoulders with crypto executives, die-hard Trump fans, and even professional sports stars—former NBA player Lamar Odom towered overhead. A handful wore bowties in Bitcoin orange; others sported gold Trump sneakers.
Just after 7 pm, the dinner guests gathered at the window to watch Trump descend in Marine One, his presidential helicopter. A short while later, he appeared from behind a blue velvet curtain to whoops and applause from the crowd. Had they seen the helicopter, Trump asked. “Yeah, super cool!” somebody yelled.
From behind a lectern at one end of the dining room, backdropped by four US flags, Trump delivered a characteristically winding and digressive speech that sources say lasted around 25 minutes. At some point, he got round to crypto.
“We’ve got some of the smartest minds anywhere in the world right here in this room,” said Trump. “You believe in the whole crypto thing. A lot of people are starting to believe in it … This is really something that may be special—who knows, right? Who knows—but it may be special.” [Continue reading…]
Fifty of the $TRUMP memecoin dinner invitees hold crypto assets named for Pepe the Frog, which is known as an alt-right symbol, as well as swastikas, a racial slur and references to anti-semitic ideology, according to an analysis by CREW, adding to concerns raised by the dinner, which represents a naked attempt by President Donald Trump to profit from his office.
The dinner, promoted on the $TRUMP website as “[t]he most EXCLUSIVE INVITATION in the World,” is scheduled to take place on May 22 at the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia. The top 220 time-weighted holders of $TRUMP between April 23 and May 12 have won invitations to the event, pending background checks, and the top 25 of those will be granted additional access through an “exclusive reception” with the president before the dinner and a “VIP tour,” reportedly taking place at the White House.
$TRUMP is hosted on Solana, one of several blockchains that allow users to mint and name their own coins. These highly volatile tokens, which tend to depreciate in value, often generate trader interest by referencing popular memes and cultural events. Many of the wallets ranked on the Trump leaderboard hold dozens of these so-called memecoins.
The most wallets on the list, 45 in all, held assets named for Pepe the Frog as of May 12—the day winners were finalized—but holdings may have changed since they were analyzed.
Originating from a 2005 web comic, Pepe the Frog’s association with the alt-right dates back to the 2016 election cycle, when users of the anonymous web forum 4chan began to use him as a symbol of white nationalism. Since then, Pepe appeared as a symbol at the 2017 Unite the Right rally and the January 6 insurrection, where participants wore helmets and masks featuring the image. Followers of the Christian nationalist and white supremacist Nick Fuentes refer to themselves as Groypers, which is a variation of the Pepe character. The Anti-Defamation League qualified Pepe as a hate symbol in 2016, though it has noted it’s not always used that way. [Continue reading…]
In total, the winners spent $394 million on Trump’s official cryptocurrency, Nansen found, though some have sold portions of or all of their holdings since the contest ended. The amount varied significantly by spender, with the top seven winners each spending more than $10 million and the bottom 24 each spending less than $100,000. A third of the winners — 67 of them — spent more than a million dollars, the research shows. The average winner spent $1,788,994.42.