Trump's Meme Coin Dinners Attract Foreign Influence

June 2nd, 2025

Azzy Xiang

Days before Trump's inauguration, he launched a "meme coin," a cryptocurrency called $TRUMP that has caused public suspicion of corruption and market manipulation. However, it didn't stop there—Trump's crypto team announced a special dinner for the top holders of $TRUMP, causing the coin to grow 60% temporarily and explosively filling up his family fortune.

The dinners are under legal scrutiny, attorneys suggesting the President may have violated federal law after hosting 200+ top investors at a high-profile dinner, with the meme coin valued at more than $3 billion. Trump was talking behind a podium embossed with the Presidential Seal, governed by strict executive orders and regulations that limit it to official government purposes. However, Trump has used it for a for-profit event, suggesting government endorsement for $TRUMP, which should lead to a penalty since it entails personal financial gain.

In total, the 220 anonymous crypto buyers of the contest to attend the dinner spent $394 million on $TRUMP, the contest aiming to invite the top coin holders at a specific time. The average winner spent nearly 2 million dollars on the wildly fluctuating meme coin. The top 25 buyers that spent more than $111 million were granted a private VIP reception, and the top 4 received a watch worth $100,000. Democrats and ethics experts protested at the club's entrance against crypto corruption and demanded to see the guest list, but the White House declined to release it. Experts and critics believe the wealthy could leverage the dinner to influence the President, with Chinese billionaires involved and Trump having also recently accepted a $400 million jet as a gift from Qatar.

Reports showed that many of the attendees were expected to be foreigners that aimed to directly lobby the President, posing a risk for national security. However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio defends that the President having dinner wouldn't be a problem, and he himself was unaware of the event, which he deemed trivial.

Extemp Question: To what extent does $TRUMP threaten national security?

AGD: A humorous AGD is most fitting in this context. For this question, any back-burner Trump related AGDs would work, or poking fun at the unseriousness of meme coins in general. Personally, I’d do a callback to President Trump referring to cryptocurrencies as “the biggest Ponzi scheme ever.”

Background: Notable background information includes the Trump administration- and Trump family’s- involvement with cryptocurrency, as well as the inherent flaws of the new meme coin. Depending on your audience, it may be necessary to give a more in depth background of cryptocurrency in general. Be sure to contextualize the launch of the coin as detailed in the article. Additionally, clarify the significance of the coin to national security at large (SOS). Depending on your answer, this will vary.

Thesis: Obviously, there are hundreds of answers to be had with this question. However, this analysis will heavily oppose $TRUMP. My thesis would entail something along the lines of, “$TRUMP will pose a huge threat to national security, as it opens doors to financial fraud.” It is generally frowned upon to give an evasive answer, so try to answer firmly either in support or opposition of $TRUMP. There is much more ample evidence in opposition of $TRUMP- take that into consideration, too. Given the thesis exemplified, three potential points include:

Channeling funds secretly (and illegally)
Appealing to dangerous individuals
Opening doors for other cryptocurrencies

Substructure: Another general rule of thumb is to use status quo/change/impact substructure in descriptive questions such as this. Since this question isn’t necessarily addressing specific changes, I’d modify my substructure to be more along the lines of status quo/risk/impact. Remember: substructure is primarily to help you, the speaker. Most judges will not have the ability to recognize which substructure you are using during a round. An example of substructure in this question may be:

Channeling funds

A. Channeling funds secretively is highly illegal, especially as President.
B. Using $TRUMP, President Trump could easily commit fraudulent activities under the guise of crypto.
C. This directly affects national security, as the executive branch has the potential to be overrun with fraud.

As a rural extemper myself, I understand the struggles of keeping up with trends. Substructure can be especially hard to master. Though abiding by trends can be helpful in becoming your best competitor, it is also beyond important to answer the questions in the way you feel is applicable- regardless of your choice of substructure or humor.If you are an extemper preparing for nationals- or your next local season- by reading this, remember to maintain your own style of extemp. Staying unique is the best way to be memorable in a round. Good luck!