Want to Attend an “Exclusive Dinner” With Trump? Just Buy His Meme Coin!

Julio Cortez/AP Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily. President Donald Trump is once again offering “exclusive” access to buyers of his meme coin—this time in the form of an invitation to a dinner with him and three secret “legends” to be named at a later date. All you have to do is purchase—and then resist the temptation to immediately sell—a lot of $TRUMP. If, come November 12, you’re one of the top 185 holders of the coin, you’ll get to attend the special event later that month at Trump’s golf club in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC. The marketing is not subtle, with the coin’s official website promising access to “The Most Exclusive Dinner in the World” and an “evening with 3 Legends and President Donald J. Trump.” In smaller letters, it notes that there will also be a private meet and greet with an unnamed “legend.” Sadly, though, “No attendees will be granted a private meet & greet with the President.” The top 29 holders of the $TRUMP meme coin will also get to go to a special VIP reception “with your favorite President and one of the Legends.” As an added bonus, the top four holders will get a gold Trump-branded watch. Again, however, it notes that there won’t be any private time with Trump, and no gifts will be accepted. Because, you know, ethics. The White House referred questions about whether Trump had been involved with planning the dinner or would be paid to attend it to the event’s host, who did not respond to a request for comment. The event was first reported by the Washington Sun. This isn’t the first gathering of this sort. 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, next weekend. Other than rewarding people for holding onto the coins, there isn’t really a point to this particular bit of blockchain boosterism. As I wrote in April, shortly after the Mar-a-Lago event: Donald Trump launched the $TRUMP meme coin (and the associated $MELANIA meme coin) just three days before his second inauguration. The price of the coin immediately rocketed past $74, giving it a total market capitalization of around $15 billion—a rather absurd figure for a brand new digital asset that can’t actually be used for anything. The coin has no inherent value. It has no transactional use. It essentially functions as a digital endorsement of Trump—so perhaps fittingly, it’s price has since fallen even faster than the president’s approval ratings. Since that high point of $74, the value of the coin dropped drastically and, in recent months, has maintained a steady low price. As of Friday afternoon, it was priced at about $2.00. When he returned to the White House last year, Trump declared he would be the “crypto president” and would do what he could to advance the blockchain economy. But even many crypto enthusiasts were not particularly happy when he launched the meme coin shortly before inauguration. And it has proved to be a spectacularly bad deal for many investors. According to an analysis from June, more than 1 million investors lost around $3.8 billion, combined, as the coin’s value dropped. On the other hand, according to Trump’s latest personal financial disclosure, he appears to have earned about $635 million from the arrangement.