President Trump likes to blur lines between personal business and public office, but he’d help himself by calling off his Thursday gala with the top 220 holders of his meme-coin.
If he won’t do that, he could at least disclose his crypto contest’s winners so Americans know who may be trying to buy access to the President.
Days before his inauguration, Mr. Trump launched a $TRUMP coin whose purported purpose was to “celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING!”
Sure.
It happened that the coin could also enrich the Trump family.
The fine print disclosed that the Trump Organization and affiliates held 80% of the coin tokens and therefore stood to benefit from any price appreciation.
A share of each trade is also routed to crypto wallets linked to the coin’s creators, so more trading generates more revenue for Trump businesses.
Last month Mr. Trump set off a flurry of trading by announcing a dinner at his golf club outside Washington, D.C., on May 22 for the top 220 holders and an “ultra-exclusive private VIP reception” with the top 25.
The crypto user names and wallet addresses of the winners are listed on the Trump website leaderboard, but their real identities aren’t disclosed.
Bloomberg News reported this month that 19 of the top 25 holders and more than half of the top 220 had bought the coin using foreign exchanges that claim to exclude U.S. customers.
This suggests most of the top buyers are foreigners.
Might they be seeking a seat at the President’s table to influence U.S. policy, especially in foreign affairs?
Mr. Trump claims he’s not doing anything wrong by holding the dinner. But even if he’s not violating any laws, the contest creates the risk of ethical conflicts.
If the contest is as above board as the President says, why not reveal the real names of the winners?
Some of their identities are bound to come out anyway. The press, Democratic Attorneys General and Members of Congress are going to investigate.
Mr. Trump lambasted President Biden over Hunter Biden’s artwork sales to secret buyers and pledged his Administration would be the “most transparent in history.”
One way to fulfill that promise is to be transparent about his crypto investors.
