CNN
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More than 200 wealthy crypto bros gathered for a private event at President Donald Trump’s golf club just outside Washington, DC, on Thursday night — dining on filet mignon and halibut while the president stood at a podium regaling them with tales of his 2024 victory.
The black-tie dinner was a special reward for the top 220 holders of the president’s personal $TRUMP meme coin, with those in the room having contributed millions in investment in his crypto token. The 25 biggest investors got an even more exclusive privilege — access to a small VIP reception with the president. Media reports estimate the purchases and associated fees of the coin have generated an estimated hundreds of millions in fees for its issuer.
Guests were required to complete a background check to attend the evening’s festivities, according to a copy of the invitation viewed by CNN. The invite told them not to arrive before 5:30 p.m., with the dinner starting at 7 p.m.
Many of the attendees watched as Marine One touched down on his golf course at his Sterling, Virginia club — then were greeted personally by the president.
Donning a blue suit and his famous red tie, he told the cheering crowd: “Hello, what a nice place. Did you get to see the helicopter?” according to videos shared by attendees on social media. “How do you like this location?”
The dinner, which was billed by the White House as an event Trump was attending in his personal capacity, caused a flurry of concern back in Washington, with critics’ chief concern being that it presented foreigners with the opportunity to purchase access to the president. The Constitution bans a president from receiving foreign gifts without Congressional consent.
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut characterized the dinner as an “unprecedented pay-to-play scheme to provide access to the presidency to the highest bidder.” Sen. Chris Murphy, also a Connecticut Democrat, called it “scam” and “the most brazenly corrupt thing a President has ever done.” Even Republican crypto advocate Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming said the event gives her “pause.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back heavily on those claims during a press briefing hours before the dinner, telling reporters it was “absurd for anyone to insinuate that this president is profiting off of the presidency.”
Justin Sun, a Chinese-born crypto mogul who, until recently, was facing civil fraud charges in the United States, was not only among those in attendance — but was lauded as the top holder of Trump’s meme coin.
His last name sat atop a poster displayed at the dinner naming the “Top 220 $TRUMP dinner winners,” showing he had made the biggest investment, according to videos of the event viewed by CNN.
According to a video Sun posted to Instagram, his investment amounted to 1,319,904.266 in “time weighted $TRUMP holdings,” which are currently valued at about $18 million.
Sun also posted a video declaring he was awarded a “Trump Golden Tourbillion” watch.
Christoph Heuermann, who declares himself the “Youngest German in all countries of the world” on his Instagram page, was also in attendance. He shared a series of photos from the event, including a snapshot of the poster where his name was listed among the top 220 holders of Trump’s crypto token.
“I got to see some very rich crypto billionaires,” Heuermann wrote in one such Instagram post. “But the majority of the crowd were young professionals from the crypto space hailing mostly from Europe. A fair share of Chinese and a few Americans, but a great diversity of most European countries. People working mostly for crypto exchanges, funds, market makers or just trading themselves. Very nice networking.”
Heuermann claimed Trump gave a 20-minute speech “and didn’t interact with the crowd other than enjoying being celebrated,” according to his post. “Even VIP token holders (I know some) couldn’t speak or even shake hands with the president. It was still well worth it to experience the president live and watch his mightily secured arrival and departure.”
Other attendees included former NBA player Lamar Odom, who was greeted with boos as he walked to the event, according to a video posted on social media; Brendan McCafferty, a self-described media executive who was on the VIP invitation list; and Nick Pinto, a marketing director at his family’s law firm in New Jersey.
Odom later shared photos of himself posing in a black hat with a photo of Trump, the words “Fight, Fight, Fight” and the president’s signature displayed over it.
He also posted photos of himself receiving a laminated black collector’s card stating he was a top 220 $TRUMP token holder. The card featured the same Trump image.
Pinto told CNBC that he spent half a million dollars on the $TRUMP meme token in order to attend the dinner.
Despite many of the guests publicly sharing about their attendance online, a key question moving forward is whether the White House will share a comprehensive list of who was present for the event.
Because crypto is anonymous by design, the identities of the top investors aren’t easy to pin down.
When CNN asked the White House whether a gala guest list would be released, a spokesperson replied with a statement saying: “President Trump only acts in the best interests of the American public — which is why they overwhelmingly re-elected him to this office, despite years of lies and false accusations against him and his businesses from the fake news media.”
Standing at a podium before the crowd, Trump recounted his 2024 presidential victory over former President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I can just say that we are believers, and the whole administration, we’re big believers,” Trump said, according to a video clip of the speech shared on social media by Heuermann.
“The other administration, I don’t know if they became a believer or not, but I would say that if they could have ever of won, which I never felt, I couldn’t believe it, can you imagine? Can you imagine losing, to Joe? Now it was switched to Kamala?” Trump said. “I’m the only one who had to beat two people.”
The clip shared by Heuermann showed Trump going on to attack Harris and her handling of the southern border. Then the president proudly claimed: “But we have the strongest border ever. You know we took a border that was like an open sieve and we made it strong.”
Boris Epshteyn, a senior adviser to the president and member of his legal team who often travels with Trump to his various clubs, was spotted off to the side as he spoke.
While Trump delivered remarks, guests enjoyed a meal from a menu titled “Donald J Trump $TRUMP Gala Dinner.”
The first course featured a “Trump Organic Field Green Salad,” with the second including filet mignon finished with a demi glaze sauce or pan seared halibut finished with citrus reduction sauce, both served with garlic mashed potatoes and a vegetable medley, according to copies of the menu viewed by CNN.
For dessert, guests enjoyed a warm lava cake, “with valrhona chocolate, crispy chocolate pearls and a caramel sauce.”
Beside the tables, guests posed next to sign of Trump holding up his fist with words “Fight, Fight, Fight” printed over him. The sign, which was displayed in a printed golden frame, included a link to a site where the public can purchase more $TRUMP coins: GetTrumpMemes.com.
CNN’s Allison Morrow contributed to this report.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct the value of Justin Sun’s $Trump holdings.
