Matt Ramey/AP
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Senate Democrats are gearing up for an investigation into Donald Trump’s “exclusive” dinner for holders of his meme coin. The dinner, which is scheduled to take place a few weeks after the midterm elections at the president’s DC-area golf club, is just the latest manifestation of the Trumps’ extensive efforts to enrich themselves through the crypto industry.
A group of eight lawmakers, led by Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), sent a letter to the White House on Thursday demanding more information on the event, which has been advertised by the company behind the $TRUMP crypto coin as “the most exclusive dinner in the world.” The coin’s site specifically pitches this “gala dinner” as an opportunity to spend an evening with Trump and three or four unnamed “legends,”—or, as the website calls them, “The world’s power players.”
According to the $TRUMP coin website, the top 185 holders of the $TRUMP coin will be invited to attend the dinner, and the top 29 holders will get access to a special VIP reception. The small print on the website states that there “there will be no private meetings with The President. No gifts will be accepted.” Still, the offer is clear: If you invest enough money in a crypto product that the president profits from, and will get to spend time with him.
A recent CBS News investigation found that half of the top 100 holders of the coin trade the crypto product on exchanges that specifically bar US citizens from using them. That could create, the Senate Democratic letter says, “concerns about the potential conflicts of interest associated with a high degree of foreign participation at an event with the President.”
The letter makes eight demands for information—including how the White House will be vetting attendees and ensuring there are no conflicts of interest. But the most concrete question may be the final one: The lawmakers are asking for a promise from the White House to release a full “unredacted log of all event
attendees,” including their corporate and foreign affiliations, within 10 days of the gala.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
The meme coin contest appears to be an effort to goose $TRUMP’s price, which has slumped rather dramatically from $74 after its launch in January 2025 to around $1.75 on Thursday. If that is the plan, it doesn’t seem to be working well. When I wrote about this dinner a few weeks ago, the coin’s price was higher—around $2—than it is now.
Other than as a metric for such contests—or as a signifier of the holder’s devotion about Trump—the coin doesn’t have any inherent value; it’s a digital asset with no meaningful function. Despite this, the coin was widely purchased after its creation shortly before Trump’s second inauguration. As the plunging price would suggest, it has been a terrible deal for many of those who bought in. According to an analysis from June, more than 1 million investors lost around $3.8 billion, combined, as the coin’s value dropped. Meanwhile, Trump’s latest personal financial disclosure shows that he appears to have earned about $635 million from the arrangement.
As I wrote when the event was announced, this isn’t a new trick:
There have been two previous exclusive events involving the president, one at Mar-a-Lago and another at the same Virginia golf club. The coin’s backers—who have a licensing deal with Trump—have also set up contests with access to swanky hospitality suites at the World Cup and Super Bowl. Another contest currently running offers the winner tickets to the F1 grand prix in Singapore…
Trump launching business opportunities that seem to take advantage of his role as president is also nothing new, nor are Democrat demands for more information and accountability. But notably, the letter ends with a request that the White House preserve all of its records on the subject. While that is relatively boilerplate language for a congressional letter, it may seem particularly ominous for the White House as Democrats appear poised to take control of one or more houses of Congress—and the subpoena power that entails—next month.
The gala, scheduled for Nov. 22, would be held during a GOP-controlled lame duck Congress. But if Democrats prevail on Election Day, the prospect of the investigation having legs will become significantly more serious in the new year.