Chinese investor with ties to communist party present at Trump's dinner

A Chinese investor with ties to China’s communist party was present at the VIP dinner organized for Trump’s meme coin investors. According to reports, the visitor was on the guest list and did in fact attend the dinner that was hosted at the White House.

Over the last few months, the White House has sounded a note of warning concerning visitors with ties to China’s communist party, noting that they pose a potential national security threat. However, reports claim the administration left the door open to a member of the Chinese government group during the dinner, where he had access to the White House and President Donald Trump.

United States President Donald Trump launched his meme coin, TRUMP, just days before his inauguration. To further push the sales of the token, there was a contest in April where it was announced that the top buyers of the token would have access to a tour of the White House and a private dinner with the president at his Virginia golf club.

Chinese investor with government ties attended Trump’s dinner

According to government documents in China examined by The New York Times, one of the buyers and attendees was He Tianying, a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). The group, which has ties to the communist party, is an advisory body that seeks to broaden the party’s influence and solicit support from influential people in China.

Tianying, who was registered at the Trump dinner as a resident of Hong Kong, advises the Chinese government through his role as a delegate of the Fangshan CPPCC, a district of Beijing.

According to records, he is a member of the organization’s science and technology committee. While The New York Times noted that there is no record of him being an official member of the communist party, his activity with the government body is on a low level.

There were no restrictions on who could purchase the TRUMP meme coin, with the sale open to foreign nationals. While the winning buyers were promised an opportunity for proximity to the president, it remains unclear why Tianying attended the event.

However, at a time when the United States administration has been trying to revoke the visas of Chinese students with ties to the Chinese Communist Party, this incident shows a weakness in the background checks the administration did on the dinner’s guests.

The White House crypto dinner and its criticism

Once a crypto skeptic, Trump made a U-turn months before the election in November 2024, declaring himself a cryptocurrency enthusiast. The move raised ethical concerns and questioned the lines between personal business ventures and the presidency. His family company also issued its cryptocurrency, promoting the TRUMP meme coin heavily since it launched.

After the launch, buyers started to accumulate the token, with the top 220 holders earning a dinner with the president.

The buyers used several nicknames that disguised their identities, but the Times obtained a copy of several pages of an official sign-in sheet for the dinner and has been looking into the biographies of many of the attendees.

Tianying, who adopted the nickname Sky, owned about $3.7 million worth of the meme coin. The details were obtained from public records at the time the contest ended, where the Chinese ranked as the seventh largest buyer of the meme coin, entitling him to a gold-colored VIP wristband for the event.

According to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, the dinner was a private event, and officials in the government were not closely involved. She maintained that it was not an official White House event. This statement came after the meme coin dinner saw strong criticisms from Democrats, government watchdogs, and even some Republicans. They saw the event as a move by the president’s business partners to enrich the first family, with Trump speaking behind the presidential seal during the event.

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