Trump’s Crypto Dinner Cost VIP Attendees an Average of $4.8 Million

The biggest holders of President Trump’s meme coin, who qualified for access to a private reception and dinner with the U.S. leader, held an average of nearly $4.8 million worth of TRUMP apiece to earn their spots via an official leaderboard ranking.

Placements were calculated using a time-weighted average of TRUMP holdings between April 23 and May 12, providing a score that was ultimately used to rank registered users. The top 25 finishers were granted “VIP” status, with extra benefits, while an additional 195 token holders gained comparatively limited access.

“The First TRUMP Competition is officially over!,” the official Get Trump Memes account posted on X (formerly Twitter), as it outlined next steps for the token and registered participants.

VIPs, who are entitled to an exclusive reception with President Trump and a special tour in addition to the dinner at Trump National Golf Club in Washington D.C., carried TRUMP token balances that varied widely from top to bottom.

The 25 VIPs held an average of $4.78 million worth of TRUMP apiece at the time of the snapshot, though that value isn’t necessarily what each investor paid for their tokens given the ever-fluctuating market value of the meme coin.

The largest holder, registered as “Sun,” held around 1.4 million TRUMP tokens valued at more than $19 million when the snapshot was taken at 1:30pm ET Monday. There’s speculation that the “Sun” account belongs to billionaire Tron founder Justin Sun, who previously purchased $30 million worth of Trump-linked World Liberty Financial’s governance token.

While the wallet linked to Sun was connected to crypto exchange HTX, where Sun is on the global advisory board, a spokeswoman for the crypto founder declined to comment when asked by the New York Times. Decrypt sought clarification from a Tron spokesperson, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

The “Sun” wallet held a huge stash of TRUMP at the end of the eligibility window. On the other hand, the last remaining VIP, “Noah,” held zero TRUMP tokens come Monday afternoon.

Because of the time-weighted calculation, users were not required to hold their TRUMP tokens until the snapshot, allowing Noah and another user registered as “Top” to make it through. Top held less than 15 tokens when the window ended.

The pair each held at least 200,000 TRUMP tokens during the competition window to earn a time-weighted average high enough to make the cut, but sold their tokens in the last 10 days. Top repurchased 14.52 TRUMP before the snapshot on Monday and maintains the balance, worth around $183 at the time of writing.

The TRUMP token first spiked in value when news of the dinner was announced in April, and users rushed to gain access to the token—and potentially earn their spot at the dinner.

With the competition concluded, the price of TRUMP is falling, and now is down almost 8% in the last 24 hours to $12.78.

But the Get Trump Memes account added more fuel to try and entice holders to cling on to their TRUMP tokens, unveiling a Solana NFT as a reward for all users who maintain their leaderboard balances until the dinner on May 22.

Additionally, the account unveiled a new Trump “rewards points” program with its own leaderboard and badges, which are expected to be revealed soon.

“The beginning of the Trump rewards points program for TRUMP starts now,” the account posted, alerting followers that the “next era” for the token will be announced at the dinner.

The President’s official Solana meme coin and his family’s broader crypto endeavors have drawn increasing scrutiny of late, as lawmakers point to potential conflicts of interest. Watchdog group Accountable.US called the TRUMP token leaderboard “the most nakedly corrupt self-enrichment scheme in U.S. presidential history.”

Based on the terms and conditions, each invited guest must complete a background check in order to attend the dinner, and the president’s attendance is not guaranteed. Should the president be unable to attend or the gala is cancelled, then attendees will receive a limited-edition Trump NFT.

Edited by Andrew Hayward