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Trump Accountability Watch: Trump Profits Off Presidency as Regular Americans Get Ripped Off with Higher Prices

 

President Donald Trump’s crypto memecoin announced this week that it’s selling presidential access to the highest bidder and shamelessly encouraging would-be funders to “own a piece of Trump” – in the Trump family’s most brazen grifting scheme to date. Next month, the President will attend an exclusive dinner with the top owners of Trump memecoin, the cryptocurrency venture he announced just days before taking office which has already brought in about $100 million. Now his family crypto venture is setting up a bidding war to let billionaires, shady special interests, and even the potential for foreign adversaries compete for access and influence over the Trump White House. 

It should be no surprise that Trump is doubling down on his cozy relationship with Big Crypto. In addition to the millions Trump is making by using the office of the Presidency to put crypto cash in his pocket, he also raked in millions more in direct donations from the crypto industry. 

New filings released in recent days reveal that cryptocurrency-interested entities contributed an eyebrow-raising $13 million to Trump’s Inauguration – with companies including Ripple Labs, Robinhood Markets, Coinbase and more all giving millions. Their investments quickly paid off as Trump shut down federal lawsuits or investigations into 5 of these donors upon taking office, and abruptly axed the Department of Justices’ cryptocurrency crime enforcement unit and disbanded the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team.

The Inauguration donor filings also reveal that at least three cabinet officials, three agency heads, and 10 ambassador nominees were connected to the donation of millions of dollars to Trump – in some cases before their nominations were announced – raising questions about whether they bought their way into powerful positions to help themselves. Trump’s cabinet of billionaires is among the most unqualified and conflicted in history.

As Trump caps off his first 100 days in office next week, he has sent the economy into chaos, skyrocketed everyday costs, sunk consumer confidence, and increased the likelihood of the recession, and along with Elon Musk and his allies in Congress, he’s on a crusade to rip Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security away from Americans. Next week, House Republicans will begin slashing vital services Americans depend upon in earnest to pay for big tax cuts for themselves, Trump, and their wealthy and corporate donors. The only people who have been better off since Trump took office are himself and his billionaire donors. 

 

ACCOUNTABLE.US IN THE NEWS:
  • Courier Newsroom: Op-Ed from Accountable.US Executive Director Tony Carrk: Trump and Congressional Republicans’ Tax Bill Betrays the American People: “Rarely is the disconnect between Washington lawmakers and the rest of the country more apparent than in the current debate over taxes and the budget. At a time when the President’s chaotic policies are sowing the seeds of a recession, plummeting consumer confidence, and everyday costs are rising, he and congressional Republicans are decidedly not focused on the needs of the American people – instead, focusing on cutting taxes for the wealthy and their billionaire donors. […] Put simply: what we stand to lose, these congressional Republicans stand to gain. Through the Estate Tax and the Pass-Through Deduction provisions alone—two benefits that are overwhelmingly enjoyed by the rich—Accountable.US’s CashinCongress.org tool found that more than 70% of Republican members advocating for this bill’s passage stand to financially gain. A staggering number on its own that is even more jarring when put next to the $880 billion in proposed cuts they offer to offset this bill – which will likely come from Medicaid.”
  • Reuters: Dinner with the president: Trump meme coin surges on offer to top buyers: “President Donald Trump’s meme coin surged more than 60% on Wednesday after a post announcing “the most EXCLUSIVE INVITATION in the world” promised the top 220 buyers of $TRUMP a private gala dinner with the president on May 22.In addition to the dinner at Trump National Golf Club in Washington, D.C., the top 25 holders would get ‘an ultra-exclusive private VIP reception with the President’ as well as a ‘Special Tour,’ according to the announcement. […] Trump’s planned dinner with $TRUMP coin holders is ‘a race to the bottom for presidential grifting,’ said Tony Carrk, executive director of Accountable.US, a nonpartisan government ethics watchdog group. ‘There has never been a clearer case of a president using their office to put money in their pocket, or greater potential for special interests to buy an administration’s favor that could threaten the public interest,’ Carrk said.” 
  • CBS News: Trump’s meme coin, which had fizzled in value, surges after offer of dinner with the president: “President Trump’s meme coin, which had slumped 88% from its most recent high, got a boost Wednesday after its website invited the top 220 holders of the digital token to an ‘intimate private dinner’ with the president. […] Tony Carrk, U.S. executive director with Accountable.US, a nonpartisan advocacy group focused on corporate and government ethics, said in a statement that Mr. Trump ‘is openly inviting investors to have a bidding war over who can buy the most access to him while he laughs all the way to the bank.’”
  • POLITICO Morning Money: “The Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee received large donations from at least six individuals (or related entities) nominated to key positions within the Trump administration, including three Cabinet secretaries and three agency heads, according to a new Accountable.US report. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s investment firm, Cantor Fitzgerald, contributed $1.047 million, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave $250,000.”
  • New Jersey Monitor: New Jersey sues landlords, software company over rent-fixing claims: “Attorney General Matt Platkin sued 10 of New Jersey’s largest landlords and RealPage Inc., a property management software company, accusing them of colluding to raise rents in violation of state and federal antitrust and consumer protection laws. In a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday, Platkin said the alleged scheme forced tens of thousands of apartment renters to overpay and contributed to the state’s shortage of affordable housing. […] The action comes two years after Accountable.US, a D.C.-based watchdog nonprofit, released a report exposing ‘housing profiteering.’ The group urged officials in several states, including Platkin, to act on the issue in 2023 and again last year.”
  • Fox Business: Trump’s meme coin soars as president offers dinner to top holders: “President Donald Trump’s cryptocurrency meme coin surged on Wednesday after a post on a website promoting it announced that the leading holders would get access to a private dinner with the president next month. […] Tony Carrk, the executive director of Accountable.US, a government ethics watchdog group, said of the announcement that there ‘has never been a clearer case of a President using their office to put money in their pocket, or a greater potential for special interests to buy an administration’s favor that could threaten the public interest.’”
  • UPI: Trump invites top 220 meme coin holders to dinner; price surges: “President Donald Trump is inviting the top 220 holders of his $TRUMP meme to a private dinner, prompting the price of the coin to rise more than 50% on Wednesday. The coins in circulation have a total value of $2.7 billion. The single coin rose $5.32, or 58%, to $14.32 on Wednesday afternoon. That’s the biggest move of any cryptocurrency, outpacing Sui, which is up 23%, according to CoinMarketCap. […] ‘The President is openly inviting investors to have a bidding war over who can buy the most access to him while he laughs all the way to the bank,’ Tony Carrk, U.S. executive director with Accountable.US, a nonpartisan advocacy group, said in a statement. ‘There has never been a clearer case of a President using their office to put money in their pocket, or greater potential for special interests to buy an administration’s favor that could threaten the public interest. Donald Trump is trampling over every historical ethical norm to see how much corruption he can get away with before his allies in Congress flinch. While Donald Trump wines and dines with his wealthy backers seeking access to the executive branch, working people across the country brace for higher costs under the Trump tariffs and less health security under the Trump budget.’”

 

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