Trump’s controversial memecoin dinner elicited mixed responses from attendees

U.S. President Donald Trump’s private dinner gala with the top 220 holders of his memecoin, which generated controversy from its announcement, took place on May 22. But what was touted as “the most exclusive invitation in the world” elicited mixed and wide-ranging responses from its attendees.

While some complained about the quality of the food and the lack of interaction with Trump, others appreciated the networking opportunity with the crypto world’s luminaries.

The distinguished attendees

Tron founder and crypto billionaire Justin Sun was the top TRUMP memecoin holder at the event. He was probably also the most controversial figure attending the event.

But Sun was one of many distinguished crypto entrepreneurs around the world who attended the dinner. According to the New York Times, guests at the event included:

• Evgeny Gaevoy, founder and CEO of crypto market maker Wintermute
• Matthew Liu, co-founder of the Origin Protocol
• Jack Lu, CEO of non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Magic Eden
• Anil Lulla and Yan Liberman, the co-founders of crypto market intelligence platform Delphi Digital

The complaints

The gala dinner failed to live up to the expectations and hype for several attendees, who entered as protesters chanted “shame” outside the venue. For one, some complained about the quality of the food served and the lack of options to drink.

Nicholas Pinto, a 25-year-old whose father drove him to the event in his Lamborghini, told CNBC:

“The food sucked…Wasn’t given any drinks other than water or Trump’s wine. I don’t drink, so I had water. My glass was only filled once.”

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Pinto said that he was “very disappointed with the dinner.” He added that he was expecting to be served Big Macs or pizzas.

Pinto was also “very disappointed” with the brief appearance of Trump and the lack of any interaction opportunities. He told WSJ:

“I am very disappointed that President Trump didn’t spend more time at the event. He was not interacting with us.”

Trump arrived in a helicopter at the event around 7 pm. He then briefly greeted the top 25 holders in a separate VIP reception area while the 195 other attendees opened gift bags in the adjacent grand ballroom.

After a speech, where Trump regurgitated old talking points, he left, approximately 23 minutes after arrival. Pinto told WSJ:

“I wasn’t very impressed by the speech, to be honest. I would have liked for him to dine with us, maybe spend more time.”

For Cheng Lu, a 32-year-old crypto investor from Shanghai who was part of the top 25 attendees, things weren’t much different from Pinto. Lu told the NYT that he did not have any opportunity to speak with Trump either at the event or at the guided White House tour on Friday.

Pinto also highlighted that security at the black-tie event was lax, with no RFID-sealed bags for phones. He said:

“Once Trump left, they didn’t really worry about anything else.”

Pinto also added that the opulence of the attendees was on full display, with Richard Mille watches that cost up to $1.3 million being flaunted by at least 16 attendees. But the mood was subdued due to the fact that several of the attendees had already dumped Official Trump (TRUMP). Pinto told CNBC:

“Lots of people didn’t even hold the coin anymore. They were checking their phones during dinner to see if the price moved.”

According to a May 16 Wired report, shortly after their places were confirmed, around half of the attendees started dumping the token. The trend continued even after the event—the price of the memecoin fell by around 8% while the token balances of attendees declined from 11.3 million to 7 million

The bright side

Not everyone was put off by dinner. Former NBA star Lamar Odom, for instance, used the event as an opportunity to promote his own memecoin, ODOM.

Russian-born crypto entrepreneur Nikita Anufrieve told WSJ:

“This is a historical moment, when the 47th President, Donald Trump, performed a speech for us. You cannot compare it to any reward that are [sic] available in the market right now.”

Anufrieve said that he treated the event as a networking opportunity, talking to about 50 people and trying to “get as many contacts as I can.”

Morten Christensen, a 39-year-old onetime poker player who now runs a crypto website, described the dinner as a “whole wild experience.” He told WSJ that the event signals that Trump is “willing to do something with the coin.” Therefore, it will provide more confidence to future investors and collectors, he added.

On the other hand, Sangrok Oh, the CEO of Hyperithm, a Tokyo and Seoul-based institutional digital asset manager, said:

“I understand there has been considerable criticism surrounding this event, but I view this as a social experiment related to crypto. And the outcomes of the experiment is something we need to observe over time.