How Trump Just Made His Own Cryptocurrency Value Skyrocket

Donald Trump’s memecoin rocketed in value following news that the president would meet with some of the cryptocurrency’s top investors.

Trump is scheduled to have a private dinner on May 22 at Trump National Golf Club in Washington with the 220 people who have the highest average Trumpcoin balance during a designated three-week period, Cryptoslate reported Thursday.

In order to break that top 220, buyers will need to invest more than $395,000, according to an analysis by CryptoRank.io. But the rising investment will definitely benefit some key players in Trumpworld, including the president himself, who holds roughly 80 percent of the total supply of TRUMP tokens.

The dinner announcement sparked a 54 percent jump in the value of the memecoin.

The top 25 investors in TRUMP tokens will receive VIP access to the dinner event, opening the opportunity for them to take photos alongside Trump and receive a guided tour the following day.

“If the event is canceled, the NFT will serve as compensation in lieu of attendance,” Cryptoslate reported.

Critics of Trump’s cryptocurrency have flagged the investment as a novel way to circumnavigate Federal Election Commission contribution limits, which prevent individuals from donating more than $3,500 per election to their candidate of choice.

Trump has tried to position himself as a pro-crypto president. At a Bitcoin Conference in Nashville in July, Trump promised to build out a “strategic national bitcoin reserve” if elected, according to CoinDesk.

But others have derided the memecoin as little more than another money-grabbing grift. Trump’s long list of election-year hustles included launching a remarkably ugly sneaker and a limited-edition, $60 God Bless the USA Bible co-promoted by “God Bless the USA” singer Lee Greenwood. Trump also took the parent company of his social media platform Truth Social public and stamped his name on a new cryptocurrency platform headed by his two sons, Eric and Don Jr., which even the president’s allies have criticized as a “huge mistake.”

The Trump administration is doing insider trading again.

Fox Business’s Charles Gasparino reported Thursday that the Trump administration has given Wall Street executives early notice of an impending trade deal with India.

“People inside the Trump White House are alerting Wall Street execs they are nearing an agreement in principle on trade with India, according to my sources who are senior Wall Street execs w ties to the White House,” Gasparino wrote on X before shifting his attention to the presumed deal rather than the private knowledge that Wall Street executives were graced with before the rest of the public.

“Why are Wall Street executives getting early alerts from people within the Trump White House about the status of trade negotiations?” Bloomberg’s Joe Weisenthal asked.

“So they are just bribing wall street firms with insider info,” author John Ganz commented.

This kind of blatant action cuts through the air of working-class, little-guy concern that the Trump administration claims to have and puts its actual corporate elitism on full display. Trump is treating the market like a board game that he’s rigged for himself and all of the rich friends who donated to his campaign. This isn’t the first time this has happened, and it won’t be the last.

Earlier this month, Trump did some more blatant insider trading, bragging about how much money his friends made off his abrupt 90-day pause on most retaliatory tariffs—an announcement that caused stocks to shoot up.

“He made $2.5 million today, and he made $900 million! That’s not bad,” Trump said, pointing to financial investor Charles Schwab and Roger Penske, a Nascar team owner. Bloomberg reported that the day of this announcement was the “best day ever” for billionaires, as the world’s elite collectively made $304 billion when the markets went back up.

“Trump is creating giant market fluctuations with his on-again, off-again tariffs. These constant gyrations in policy provide dangerous opportunities for insider trading,” Senator Adam Schiff wrote on X at the time. “Who in the administration knew about Trump’s latest tariff flip flop ahead of time? Did anyone buy or sell stocks, and profit at the public’s expense?”

Trump administration officials have yet to comment on the deal.

A federal judge has ordered that a Venezuelan immigrant deported to El Salvador should be returned to the U.S.

On Wednesday night, U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher, appointed by President Trump, ruled that a 20-year-old Venezuelan man’s removal violated a previous court settlement, and that the government should facilitate his return. Gallagher also ruled that the government should not deport anyone else covered by the settlement.

In 2019, a class action lawsuit was filed by immigrants who came to the U.S. as unaccompanied minors and sought asylum in order to have their applications processed while they stayed in the country. The government and the plaintiffs settled the case in 2024. But the Trump administration broke the agreement by sending one of the immigrants, known under the pseudonym “Cristian” in court records, to El Salvador last month as part of three deportation flights to the country.

“At bottom, this case, unlike other cases involving the government’s removal of individuals under the Alien Enemies Act, is a contractual dispute because of the Settlement Agreement,” the attorneys for the plaintiff said, referring to the eighteenth-century wartime authority Trump used to justify deporting noncitizens with little to no due process.

In her ruling, Gallager mentioned the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whom the government mistakenly deported to El Salvador, saying that “like Judge [Paula] Xinis in the Abrego Garcia matter, this court will order Defendants to facilitate Cristian’s return to the United States so that he can receive the process he was entitled to under the parties’ binding Settlement Agreement.”

The Trump administration said that Cristian was arrested in January for possession of cocaine and that “his designation as an alien enemy pursuant to the [Alien Enemies Act] results in him ceasing to be a member” of the class in the lawsuit. This may be moot now, though, as a federal judge ruled last week that any deportations under the 1798 law require the government to provide advance notice and a court hearing.

But the White House has shown a flippant disregard for court orders that go against its wishes, and they aren’t likely to respond favorably to Gallager’s ruling. Each day, the administration’s deal with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele to send immigrants to the country is looking more and more legally questionable, but nothing appears to be changing, despite rebukes from multiple judges.

Donald Trump pledged to end the war in Ukraine as soon as he returned to the Oval Office—but late Wednesday, amid a collapsing peace deal, Russia dropped more bombs on Kyiv.

By early Thursday—nearly 100 days into Trump’s second term—the president had resorted to begging his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to stop the violence.

“I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Let’s get the Peace Deal DONE!”

Russia barraged Ukraine’s capital with missiles and drones for 11 hours Wednesday night. The attack killed at least eight people and injured more than 70, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko told Reuters.

The Kremlin claimed the attack was aimed at Ukraine’s defense industry, allegedly targeting manufacturing plants that produced “rocket fuel and gunpowder,” but the targets it hit were instead in five different Kyiv neighborhoods.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy decried the attack as “one of (Russia’s) most outrageous.”

State Secretary Marco Rubio spontaneously pulled out of Ukraine peace talks Wednesday after Zelenskiy plainly rejected a U.S.-backed deal that would permanently hand over Crimea to Russia.

“Ukraine will not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea,” Zelenskiy said, at a press conference in Kyiv Tuesday. “There’s nothing to talk about here. This is against our Constitution.”

Responding via a post on Truth Social Wednesday, Trump claimed that the territory was “lost years ago” and “and is not even a point of discussion.”

In a statement released later that day, Zelenskiy stressed that his country was dedicated to achieving peace—but that Ukraine “will always act in accordance with its Constitution.”

The European Union’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas condemned Wednesday night’s attack, denoting Russia and the country’s “war aims” as the obstacle to ending the war.

“While claiming to seek peace, Russia launched a deadly airstrike on Kyiv,” Kallas wrote on X. “This isn’t a pursuit of peace, it’s a mockery of it.”

Trump expressed optimism on striking a new trade deal with China after he placed aggressive 145 percent total tariffs on the country. The Chinese government called his bluff immediately. 

“We’re dealing with a lot of countries right now and could be with China, but maybe we’ll make a special—you know, a deal—and we will see what it will be. Right now, it’s at 145 percent, that’s very high,” Trump said on Wednesday.

Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson He Yadong directly rejected that assertion Thursday, noting that “claims about the progress of China-U.S. trade negotiations are groundless as trying to catch the wind and have no factual basis.”

“China’s position is consistent, and we are open to consultations and dialogues, but any form of consultations and negotiations must be conducted on the basis of mutual respect and in an equal manner,” he said at a press conference. “The U.S. should respond to rational voices in the international community and within its own borders and thoroughly remove all unilateral tariffs imposed on China, if it really wants to solve the problem.” 

Trump has made China a central target in his trade war, imposing 145 percent tariffs even as he paused reciprocal tariffs on all other countries for 90 days. Beijing responded with its own 125 percent tariffs on U.S. products, with more retaliation sure to come.