MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Tonight, President Trump is expected to be the special guest at a dinner at one of his golf clubs for the top 220 holders of a cryptocurrency that bears his name. The Trump coin dinner highlights Trump's recent embrace of crypto. It also highlights conflict-of-interest concerns about the president profiting from the industry. NPR's Stephen Fowler is on this story. He is with us now. Hey there.
STEPHEN FOWLER, BYLINE: Hey there.
KELLY: The Trump coin dinner - tell us more.
FOWLER: Well, we know some basics. It's at Trump's golf club near Washington, D.C. It's technically organized by an entity called Fight Fight Fight LLC, affiliated with The Trump Organization, and that the president is the invited special guest. This dinner is marketed for the top holders of Trump's meme coin, which was launched just before his inauguration in January. And this meme coin, Mary Louise, think of it as a digital asset more than an investment. So the tokens are only worth what people are willing to pay for it.
KELLY: And who are these people who are willing to pay for it - willing to buy these tokens for a chance at dinner with the president?
FOWLER: Well, we don't exactly know that much, other than what people are willing to share. These crypto wallet holders are anonymous and only known by short nicknames on a leaderboard - names like Sun, Hype, Meow. Some of them have publicly identified themselves. For example, Sun is Justin Sun, a Chinese-born crypto entrepreneur who's invested in Trump's crypto ventures and earlier this year had an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission into his company paused. And other reporting finds many of the holders are based in foreign countries and are buying these coins on exchanges that you can't access in the U.S.
KELLY: OK, I mentioned conflict of interest concerns. Just speak to that for a minute. What are the ethical implications here?
FOWLER: Well, this is not Trump acting in his official capacity as president. He's not technically the organizer of this event, but you can't ignore the fact that he is the president. Ethics experts have raised concerns about the largely anonymous group of people that could include foreign nationals who otherwise would not be able to directly give money in U.S. politics. The White House has repeatedly pointed out the president's assets are in a blind trust. Just today, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump is abiding by conflict-of-interest laws.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
KAROLINE LEAVITT: And I think everybody - the American public believe it's absurd for anyone to insinuate that this president is profiting off of the presidency.
FOWLER: That said, the setup of Trump's coin and his crypto business does mean those entities get a cut every time somebody buys and sells the coin. Crypto data firm Chainalysis says that's been hundreds of millions of dollars so far.
KELLY: Well - and just back up for a second because I'm remembering a day not that long ago when Donald Trump called crypto a scam. He was not a fan. Why the change in tune?
FOWLER: Well, a Pew survey from last October sheds light. Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. adults invest in crypto. Similar shares of Democratic and Republican-leaning voters do so. They're predominantly younger and male, and that makes them smack dab of the prime demographic that Trump did significant outreach to during the presidential campaign last year. Since taking office, Trump has signed executive orders dealing with strategic digital reserves and hosted crypto events at the White House to talk about legislation and regulation of the industry.
KELLY: Speaking of regulation, where is regulation on this? How is all of this impacting legislative efforts?
FOWLER: Well, the industry has poured big money across the aisle to help legitimize crypto's role in the financial space, but Trump's efforts and profits have threatened to derail a bill called the GENIUS Act that would regulate some cryptocurrencies, though not these meme coins like the one Trump is using. A big criticism from opponents is that the bill doesn't include any conflict-of-interest language, and they say the president exemplifies the need for including that.
KELLY: NPR's Stephen Fowler, thank you.
FOWLER: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
