Senator Cynthia Lummis and other Senate Republicans ‘pause’ over Trump memecoin dinner offer

Senator Cynthia Lummis and other Senate Republicans have expressed concern over President Trump’s dinner offer to the top holders of the $TRUMP memecoin. Lummis called for a pause on the offer as it raises ethical and legal complications. 

Trump is once again in the middle of controversy following his decision to host a dinner and tour for his top investors. On April 23, 2025, the organization behind the $TRUMP meme coin announced an exclusive dinner event at Trump’s National Golf Club.

The top 220 holders of the $TRUMP meme coin were invited to have dinner with the President between April 23 and May 12. The top 25 holders of the coin would receive additional perks including a VIP reception and a special tour. The tour was originally tagged as a “White House Tour,” but that was later removed.

Senator Cynthia Lummis urges moderation

Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming is a pro-crypto legislator and a supporter of President Trump, and even she has expressed concerns about the ethical implications of the memecoin dinner offer.

“This is my president that we’re talking about, but I am willing to say that this gives me pause,” she said.

The memecoin dinner is even more controversial once the involvement of foreign entities in purchasing the $TRUMP coin is considered. The dinner could potentially violate the emoluments clause of the Constitution, which prohibits government officials from accepting payments or gifts from foreign entities without congressional approval.

Lummis said Wednesday in an interview that she believes Congress needs to regulate standards around the use of digital assets like meme coins. She has stated that she’s open to working with her colleagues to create clear regulations around digital assets for elected officials, including the president.

“This is the Wild West, and so when I hear things like this, my reaction is, we need to legislate so there are rules,” Lummis said. “Even what may appear to be ‘cringey’ with regard to meme coins, it’s legal, and what we need to do is have a regulatory framework that makes this more clear, so we don’t have this Wild West scenario,” she added.

While a few Senate Republicans questioned the ethics around Trump’s dinner for his top investors, most of the party’s members, like Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota, stated that they were confident that the president would work within the boundaries of the law.

Other GOP senators said they hadn’t heard about the president’s plan.

The dinner invitation is controversial

After the dinner announcement, the TRUMP memecoin experienced a surge in value and recorded an over 50% price increase and a $100 million value boost in related wallets. The $TRUMP meme coin’s total market cap increased to an impressive $2.7B.

Despite the immediate benefits for Trump, the dinner invitation was met with criticism from various quarters. A number of lawmakers view the dinner as a potential conflict of interest and a messy fusion of politics with personal business.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, expressed her displeasure about the event, though she noted she didn’t have all of the details.

“I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to charge people to come into the Capitol and take a tour,” Murkowski told NBC News.

The event is unpopular with other Senate Democrats like Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, and Adam Schiff of California, who even requested an ethics investigation into the dinner.

“This latest action raises grave ethics and legal concerns, including the severe risk that President Trump and other officials may be engaging in ‘pay to play’ corruption by selling presidential access to individuals or entities, to include foreign nationals and corporate actors with vested interests in federal action, while personally enriching the President and his family,” the senators wrote in their letter.

Sen. Jon Ossoff, took the criticism further, mentioning impeaching Trump over the meme coin dinner. Sen. Cory Booker stated that the meme coin sale is a “violation of the Constitution.”

“Before you can even get to the point of discussing impeachment,” he said, “can we even get the United States Congress to step forward in saying this is wrong and we should investigate?”

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