[guest post by Dana]

Tonight is the big Trump Memecoin dinner, where access to the President of the United States can be yours if you cough up enough dough:

More than 200 global investors in the $TRUMP memecoin — a collectible token with no underlying value — are expected to arrive Thursday at the president’s golf club in Virginia after scoring invitations to an exclusive dinner with Trump himself. The investors recently bought $148 million worth of the memecoin, generating millions of dollars in trading fees for the Trump family and its partners behind the venture, who also control most of the token. The top 25 buyers, including crypto mogul Justin Sun and a Singapore-based startup called MemeCore, will even get the chance to meet with Trump beforehand at a private reception.

“The whole week I was talking to my wife and father, ’Wouldn’t it be insane if I get to meet the president of the United States based on a memecoin competition?’” said Morten Christensen, the 39-year-old onetime poker player who now runs a crypto website and will be attending the dinner. “What life is this?”

Yes, well, life is indeed pretty insane these days. . .

Anyway the report mentions that Democrats, ethics experts, and only a few Republicans are alarmed by this latest Trump money-making-access scheme. The question is: why isn’t there a Republican majority alarmed? Poor optics are one thing, but corruption is another matter entirely. And whether Democrat or Republican, this should matter to us all. Especially those in Congress. And there’s also the fact that the Trump family’s digital asset businesses is rapidly growing, and many people involved in it were big Republican donors in 2024. To the 2024 election, that is.

Concerned about the blurring lines between Trump the president and Trump the business mogul, many critics say the event is a pay-to-play scheme. Investors, they say, had to buy piles of $TRUMP during a two-and-a-half-week-long window to win an invite — sending the price higher and generating a bonanza of trading fees for the Trump family and its partners.

You know what else is worrisome?

$TRUMP meme coin has raised uncomfortable questions about potentially shadowy buyers using the anonymity of the internet to buy access to the president.

The entire scheme is ripe for corruption, and we are dealing with a president who has an insatiable greed for power and money, and who has consistently revealed himself to be an unprincipled grifter.

Anyway, it’s hard do disagree with this:

“This isn’t about raising money for a campaign. This is about personal profit, and what he’s selling is influence on himself and his Cabinet and the U.S. government.”

The Whitr House defense of the dinner is laughable:

The White House rejected the memecoin concerns, with officials saying the token has nothing to do with the administration and that Trump only acts in the American public’s best interests. In a statement, spokesperson Anna Kelly said Trump is “working to secure GOOD deals for the American people, not for himself.”

When asked if the White House will be releasing a list of guests to tonight’s dinner, which is standard practice, spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said they wouldn’t be doing that because Trump is holding the event on his. . . own ”personal time”.

SMDH. . .

—Dana