How Trump is making coin from $TRUMP coin

Summary

Summary of "How Trump is Making Coin from $TRUMP Coin"

The Indicator from Planet Money aired an insightful episode on May 22, 2025, hosted by Darian Woods and Waylon Wong. This episode delves into the intriguing intersection of cryptocurrency and politics, specifically focusing on the creation and implications of the Trump Coin, a meme-based cryptocurrency associated with former President Donald Trump.

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1. Introduction to Trump Coin

The episode opens with the hosts introducing the concept of Trump Coin, positioning it within the broader landscape of meme coins.

Waylon Wong [03:11]: "The Trump coin is similar to any other meme coin, which is to say it's basically digital monopoly money based on some kind of in joke or meme or famous person."

Trump Coin operates on the Solana blockchain, which serves as a transparent ledger recording all transactions related to the coin.

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2. Financial Overview and Potential Profits

Darian Woods details the financial aspects of Trump Coin, highlighting its initial release and revenue generation.

Darian Woods [03:29]: "The first 200 million coins were released by selling them to the public a few days before the presidential inauguration. In the first few weeks after the launch, the Trump crew got more than $300 million from this, according to the Financial Times, and several million dollars more from transaction fees as well."

The total supply is capped at 1 billion coins, with 800 million coins yet to be released. The potential revenue from selling all coins is estimated to exceed $10 billion.

Waylon Wong [04:16]: "If the team behind the Trump coin were to sell their 800 million coins today, they would get more than $10 billion."

This substantial financial inflow transforms Trump Coin from mere "monopoly money" to a significant economic asset with real-world value.

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3. Motivations Behind Purchasing Trump Coin

The hosts explore the various reasons individuals and entities might invest in Trump Coin:

• Speculation: Investors bet on the coin's value appreciating over time.
• Symbolic Support: Buyers show allegiance to Trump through their investment.
• Exclusive Access: Top holders gain invitations to a gala dinner with President Trump.

Darian Woods [04:23]: "People might buy these coins for speculation, just thinking that someone else is going to be more foolish than them and buy what is basically a made up currency at a higher price. Or they might just buy them for fun or for symbolic support of Trump. Or as we've heard from some coin holders, they might also buy the coins hoping for access to the President."

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4. Identifying Trump Coin Buyers

Nikolai Sunagor, a research analyst at the cryptocurrency firm Nansen, discusses the challenges and findings in tracing the coin’s buyers.

Nikolai Sunagor [04:58]: "It really does feel like detective work."

While analyzing the blockchain, Nikolai managed to identify a few high-profile buyers:

• Justin Sun: A Chinese-born crypto billionaire currently entangled in fraud charges with federal regulators.
• Javier Salgas: CEO of a transportation logistics company based in Monterrey, Mexico, advocating for lower tariffs between Mexico and the U.S.

Darian Woods [06:04]: "Nikolai says that among the identifiable people in the race to 220 was Chinese born crypto billionaire Justin Sun... And there was also Javier Salgas, who's based in Monterrey, Mexico, and is a chief executive at a transportation logistics company."

These findings raise concerns about the potential for foreign influence and undisclosed financial motivations behind Trump Coin investments.

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5. Legal Implications and Constitutional Concerns

The episode shifts focus to the legality of a sitting president launching a cryptocurrency, featuring insights from Elizabeth Wydra, president of the Constitutional Accountability Centre.

Elizabeth Wydra [06:58]: "So there's no explicit law against it. But, you know, certainly there are laws that are implicated by launching a meme coin like this. And they range from the foreign emoluments clause of the Constitution to federal campaign laws."

Emoluments Clause: This constitutional provision prohibits federal officeholders from receiving gifts or profits from foreign states without congressional consent. Elizabeth highlights that the sale of Trump Coins could be interpreted as an emolument.

Elizabeth Wydra [07:42]: "It says that a person who holds an office like the President in the United States cannot accept any gifts, titles, profits from any foreign state without the consent of Congress."

Federal Campaign Laws: These laws are designed to prevent "pay-to-play" politics by limiting campaign contributions and prohibiting foreign donations. The decentralized and pseudonymous nature of cryptocurrency can circumvent these regulations.

Elizabeth Wydra [08:29]: "So we try to have a system in the United States that prevents pay to play politics. And one of the ways in which we try to enforce that is by having federal election laws."

Elizabeth argues that Trump Coin transactions likely violate the spirit, if not the letter, of these election laws.

Elizabeth Wydra [09:03]: "It seems very likely that federal election laws are going to be violated in spirit, even if not in letter. Through this meme coin transaction."

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6. Contrasting Traditional Fundraising

The hosts compare Trump Coin’s fundraising model to traditional fundraising events, such as exclusive dinners where donors contribute funds in exchange for access to politicians.

Elizabeth Wydra [09:13]: "There are none of those limits [campaign contributions]. And I think in particular, when you worry about foreign corruption and foreign influence, that's extremely concerning."

She emphasizes that unlike traditional fundraising, Trump Coin lacks regulatory oversight and contribution limits, exacerbating concerns about undue influence and foreign interference.

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7. Official Responses and Controversies

Attempts to obtain comments from the Trump Organization were unsuccessful, and the White House Press Secretary stated that the President acts in the best interests of the American public.

White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt [10:07]: "First and doing what's best for our country, full stop."

This silence adds to the controversy and public skepticism surrounding the legitimacy and intentions behind Trump Coin.

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8. Conclusion and Reflections

The episode concludes with the hosts reflecting on the peculiarities of Trump Coin as a fundraising tool, questioning its legality and ethical implications.

Darian Woods [10:24]: "Okay, well, I thought of another way to make money. What about just a giant tip jar in front of the White House? People just throw money in. No need for this fancy technology."

This closing remark underscores the debate over innovative yet potentially problematic methods of fundraising in the political sphere.

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Key Takeaways

• Trump Coin represents a novel blend of cryptocurrency and political fundraising, raising significant financial and ethical questions.
• The coin has generated substantial revenue, with the potential for even greater profits pending full release of the total supply.
• Identifying the true buyers remains challenging, with notable figures like Justin Sun implicated, highlighting concerns over foreign influence.
• Legal experts argue that Trump Coin may infringe upon constitutional emoluments clauses and federal campaign finance laws.
• The lack of transparency and regulatory oversight distinguishes Trump Coin from traditional political fundraising methods, intensifying debates over its legitimacy.

This episode of The Indicator effectively illuminates the complexities at the nexus of cryptocurrency and politics, prompting listeners to consider the broader implications of such financial innovations in the political landscape.

Transcript

[NPR Announcer]

Npr.

[Darian Woods]

Waylon, if you were trying to make as much money as you could from being the President, what would you do?

[Waylon Wong]

I would turn the Situation Room into an escape room and rent it out for birthday parties and corporate team building.

[Darian Woods]

I was thinking cameo videos would make a nice birthday present for somebody.

[Waylon Wong]

Yeah, what if they just set up a big shady carnival on the South Lawn? Be like, here, try this ring toss.

[Darian Woods]

There are no bad ideas. Carry on.

[Waylon Wong]

What about selling a Meme coin with my name on it and the top Meme Coin buyers get to join me for dinner?

[Darian Woods]

Now you're onto something, President Wong. And that is exactly what President Trump is doing well tonight. In fact, if you are among the top 220 holders of the Trump Coin, this cryptocurrency, you can join the President for a gala dinner.

[Waylon Wong]

I can taste that dry chicken now. This is the kind of shenanigans that has me asking is this legal? This is the indicator from Planet Money. I'm Waylon Wong.

[Darian Woods]

And I'm Darian Woods. Today on the show the Trump Coin. We explain what it is, how the real Donald Trump profits from it, and yes, whether this whole crypto scheme is within the law.

[Elizabeth Wydra]

Foreign.

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[Darian Woods]

Today, Donald Trump is associated with a few cryptocurrency ventures. The Melania Meme coin, the World Liberty Financial crypto company. Today we're focusing on the Trump meme coin.

[Waylon Wong]

The Trump coin is similar to any other meme coin, which is to say it's basically digital monopoly money based on some kind of in joke or meme or famous person. In this case, they set up a new type of coin on the Solana blockchain. That blockchain is a record of all the buying and selling that happens.

[Darian Woods]

The first 200 million coins were released by selling them to the public a few days before the presidential inauguration. In the first few weeks after the launch, the Trump crew got more than $300 million from this, according to the.

[Waylon Wong]

Financial Times, and several million dollars more from transaction fees as well. But who's counting?

[Darian Woods]

The Trump associated companies running the coin have promised never to release more than a billion coins. So there is 800 million more to go. That means lot more money that Trump and his partners could get.

[Waylon Wong]

Yeah. And there's a specific schedule of when these extra coins will get released. Now, we don't know what the demand for Trump coins will be then, but if the team behind the Trump coin were to sell their 800 million coins today, they would get more than $10 billion.

[Darian Woods]

Yeah. That is not just talking about monopoly money now.

[Waylon Wong]

No, this is like a warehouse full of actual money.

[Darian Woods]

People might buy these coins for speculation, just thinking that someone else is going to be more foolish than them and buy what is basically a made up currency at a higher price. Or they might just buy them for fun or for symbolic support of Trump. Or as we've heard from some coin holders, they might also buy the coins hoping for access to the President.

[Waylon Wong]

Yeah. So who exactly is paying for these meme coins is of real public interest. Nikolai Sunagor is exactly the kind of crypto enthusiast who tried to figure out as many of these Trump meme coin buyers as he could.

[Nikolai Sunagor]

It really does feel like detective work.

[Waylon Wong]

Nikolai works as a research analyst at the cryptocurrency research firm Nansen.

[Darian Woods]

How do you keep track of it all? Presumably not with strings and pins on a board behind you.

[Nikolai Sunagor]

Actually, I'm actually considering getting a board.

[Darian Woods]

The first step for Nikolai is to look at the blockchain. That's where Nikolai can see each purchase tied to a wallet, as in a digital wallet that allows someone to access and trade their cryptocurrencies.

[Nikolai Sunagor]

Sometimes you find like these small breadcrumbs so it would be they transacted with some specific wallet and that wallet happened to have a specific domain name, and that name has been mentioned somewhere online. And based on that person who mentioned it, you can find another wallet and then you're suddenly in this whole loop of an entire, like, web of evidence.

[Waylon Wong]

Of the top 20 crypto buyers eligible for Trump's gala dinner, Nikolai could only trace the names of about five identifiable people. We managed to find more details on 30 to 40 more buyers, but these were connected to online accounts that use pseudonyms.

[Darian Woods]

Nikolai says that among the identifiable people in the race to 220 was Chinese born crypto billionaire Justin Sun. The crypto magnate is currently trying to reach a settlement with federal regulators over fraud charges. This week, he announced himself as a top Trump coin buyer. There was also Javier Salgas, who's based in Monterrey, Mexico, and is a chief executive at a transportation logistics company. And he said it out loud in a press release. He wanted to advocate for lower tariffs between Mexico and the U.S. okay, this.

[Waylon Wong]

Whole enterprise is starting to sound questionably.

[Darian Woods]

Legal, if it wasn't already. So is it legal for a president to launch a meme coin? Elizabeth Wydra is the president of the Constitutional Accountability Centre. That's a nonpartisan nonprofit that promotes the Constitution for progressive outcomes.

[Elizabeth Wydra]

So there's no explicit law against it. But, you know, certainly there are laws that are implicated by launching a meme coin like this. And they range from the foreign emoluments clause of the Constitution to federal campaign laws.

[Waylon Wong]

Oh, hello, emoluments. Our old friend from the first Trump administration.

[Darian Woods]

Elizabeth knows this intimately. She was actually part of a lawsuit around Trump's D.C. hotel. She claimed they breached the constitutional clause around emoluments.

[Elizabeth Wydra]

It says that a person who holds an office like the President in the United States cannot accept any gifts, titles, profits from any foreign state without the consent of Congress.

[Darian Woods]

Elizabeth says an emolument can mean profits like a lawmaker receiving a consulting fee to advise a foreign student or, you.

[Elizabeth Wydra]

Know, the conversation about the plane from the government of Qatar has been discussed as a foreign emolument.

[Waylon Wong]

Elizabeth says the meme coin purchases are emoluments. Of course, this would be fiercely argued in any legal proceedings.

[Darian Woods]

But the thing is, if the President wants to receive any emoluments, he can get permission from Congress. He just needs to ask. Congress is currently controlled by Republicans, and yet President Trump hasn't ever done that.

[Elizabeth Wydra]

He doesn't really seem to care that much about that. But it is something that's important.

[Darian Woods]

The other laws that the Trump coin might implicate, Elizabeth says, are election financing laws.

[Elizabeth Wydra]

So we try to have a system in the United States that prevents pay to play politics. And one of the ways in which we try to enforce that is by having federal election laws.

[Waylon Wong]

These laws limit the amount someone can give to a campaign, and they restrict foreigners from donating to a candidate.

[Elizabeth Wydra]

Obviously, the meme coins are a way to get around all of those restrictions.

[Darian Woods]

Even if we could only identify the names of a few Trump coin holders, according to Bloomberg, we can see that over half are using crypto exchanges like bybit, which people in the US can't use.

[Elizabeth Wydra]

It seems very likely that federal election laws are going to be violated in spirit, even if not in letter. Through this meme coin transaction.

[Darian Woods]

We try to avoid pay to play politics. But there is large fundraising dinners where you pay a lot of money and then you can have some face time with a politician, Democratic or Republican. Why is this different?

[Elizabeth Wydra]

Right. And so I think it's interesting that it is a dinner because that is kind of like, you know, the traditional what we're used to seeing in, you know, something you get for a campaign contribution, you get to go to a fancy dinner, you maybe get a picture with the candidate you're supporting. And so the fact that the normal federal campaign contributions limits don't apply to this instance is really relevant here. There are none of those limits. And I think in particular, when you worry about foreign corruption and foreign influence, that's extremely concerning. There's a distinct threat that certainly the drafters of the Constitution saw with respect to foreign influence.

[Waylon Wong]

We sent an email and a courier letter to the Trump Organization seeking comment. We didn't receive a response. When asked similar questions, White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt has said the president acts with only the interests of the.

[NPR Announcer]

American public in mind, putting our country.

[Elizabeth Wydra]

First and doing what's best for our country, full stop.

[Darian Woods]

Okay, well, I thought of another way to make money. What about just a giant tip jar in front of the White House? People just throw money in. No need for this fancy technology.

[Waylon Wong]

Please and thank you.

[Darian Woods]

Don't forget to tip your president. This episode was produced by Corey Bridges with engineering by Robert Rodriguez. It was fact checked by Ciero Juarez. Cake and Cannon edits the show and the indicator is in production of npr.

[NPR Announcer]

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