TRUMP fragrance, 18K gold watch and dinner with Trump at meme coin event
TRUMP fragrance, 18K gold watch and dinner with Trump at meme coin event
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA TODAYFri, October 2, 2026 at 8:59 PM UTC
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Billed as 'the most exclusive dinner in the world,' the gala event for 185 of the biggest investors will be held at the Trump National Golf Club.
For a third time since retaking the White House last year, President Donald Trump will meet with the top holders of the $TRUMP meme coin, the cryptocurrency that enriched him by $635 million last year.
Billed as “the most exclusive dinner in the world” the gala event for 185 of the biggest investors in the meme coin will be held Nov. 22 at the Trump National Golf Club Washington, DC, in Potomac Falls, Virginia.
The contest to make the leaderboard spans from Sept. 30 to Nov. 12 , with the top 29 investors being treated to a private reception with the president.
"For the Top 29 qualifying VIPs, YOU ARE INVITED to a VIP reception with your favorite President and one of the Legends," the firm’s website says.
“An evening with 3 Legends and President Donald J. Trump — plus a private meet & greet with a legend to be announced,” says the announcement. “No attendees will be granted a private meet & greet with the President.”
Other goodies the attendees will be gifted include a "TRUMP Fragrance, Commemorative Poster and a Commemorative Trading Card and a Fight Fight Fight Trump special Watch."
The top four investors will also receive a "special 18K Gold Trump Watch."
Ethics watchdogs have long expressed concern that businesses and individuals seeking to influence the president are buying his meme coins to curry favor with the administration.
The White House however dismissed the notion.
It is difficult to "credibly characterize this as buying access" to the president when the event organizers have expressly said that no attendee will receive a private meet-and-greet with him, said a White House official, adding that reporting on prior events found that attendees described themselves primarily as "crypto hobbyists and fans."
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The official said there "is no promise of official government action in exchange for attending.”
During the first such gathering in May 2025, the top 25 buyers spent more than $111 million and the top four investors received a limited-edition Trump Tourbillon watch worth $100,000.
The president reported more than $1.4 billion in income tied to his family's cryptocurrency ventures in 2025, making digital assets the largest source of his earnings, according to a financial disclosure report released by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics on June 30.
Meanwhile, nearly a million people who bought the meme coin incurred a total of $3.81 billion in losses through the end of June, according to the cryptocurrency analytics firm Nansen, The New York Times reported.
The $TRUMP meme coin debuted Jan. 17, 2025, three days before the president was sworn in for a second term. The next day, Trump posted about the meme coin, writing on X: “My NEW Official Trump Meme is HERE! It’s time to celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING!”
Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren, of Massachusetts, and Richard Blumenthal, of Connecticut, wrote a letter in August to the Securities and Exchange Commission urging an investigation into the $TRUMP meme coin.
“We are concerned that President Trump’s memecoin scheme may constitute an illegal scam,” they wrote, asking the agency to look into any “illegal fraud or unjust enrichment that the coin may have facilitated.”
Trump deflected questions about a conflict of interest saying he doesn’t get involved in his personal wealth management.
“We have funds that run my money,” he said in August.
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House correspondent for USA TODAY.You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: TRUMP fragrance, 18K gold watch and dinner with Trump at meme coin event
Source: “AOL Money”
