WASHINGTON — Top holders of Donald Trump’s memecoin and other guests were greeted by protesters as they arrived for a dinner with the president at his golf club outside Washington on Thursday, a day that saw Bitcoin extend its record high amid optimism about U.S. government support for the crypto industry.

Chinese crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun, who is working to resolve a regulatory case in the U.S., posted a photo on X showing him on his way to the dinner. Trump announced his own departure to the event on Truth Social, saying “The U.S.A. is DOMINATING in Crypto, Bitcoin, etc., and we are going to keep it that way!”

Guests arriving for the event, which included retired NBA player Lamar Odom, were greeted outside the Trump National Golf Club near Washington by about 100 protesters within earshot of the security checkpoint where they emerged from their vehicles. Protesters screamed “Shame!” and “I hope you choke on your dinner!” and held signs with messages like “America is not for sale” and “Memecoin grifters go to jail.”

Inside the event, large placards saying “Fight Fight Fight” adorned every table, an homage to the name of the company that launched the $Trump memecoin, according to photos taken inside that were seen by Bloomberg. Gift bags containing black hats and plaques, both reading “Fight Fight Fight,” were on the chairs. On the menu was a field-green salad, filet mignon and pan-seared halibut along with garlic mashed potatoes and a vegetable medley.

The gathering has faced criticism from Democrats including Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Adam Schiff of California, who cited conflicts of interest, and the potential of selling access to the president, particularly to people from foreign countries.

“In effect he is putting a ‘For Sale’ sign on the White House lawn,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said in an interview on May 9. “The dinner crystallized and heightened concerns that we had even before the dinner was announced.” On Thursday, Blumenthal participated in a media call to discuss what was described as “unprecedented presidential crypto corruption.”

To qualify for the dinner, holders of Trump memecoin had to register on an online leaderboard, which tracked their average holdings over three weeks. The top 220 holders got invited, while the top 25 were also invited to a special before-dinner reception with the president. More than half of the top holders used foreign exchanges that say they ban U.S. users, suggesting that many of the purchasers are based outside the U.S., Bloomberg analysis found. One guest is Morten Christensen, who lives in Mexico and runs AirdropAlert.com, which tracks token giveaways. He managed to snag a seat at the dinner at a total cost of about $1,200.

Over the last few years, Trump turned from being a crypto skeptic to the industry’s biggest champion. After launching four collections of nonfungible tokens, Trump started his second presidential term by appointing crypto-friendly agency heads and establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve.

Trump’s family has also expanded its network of crypto businesses. Last year, Trump and his sons launched World Liberty Financial, which has raised more than $500 million. Two of his sons also got involved in a Bitcoin mining venture. Trump-related entities also issued the Trump memecoin days before inauguration.

The memecoin’s market cap reached nearly $15 billion soon after its January launch, but then dropped sharply, to about $2.9 billion currently, according to data tracker CoinMarketCap.com. The announcement of the dinner for memecoin holders modestly boosted the coin’s price. Fight Fight Fight LLC and CIC Digital LLC, an affiliate of The Trump Organization, share 80% of the total memecoin supply.

(Helena Cheng and Muyao Shen contributed to this report.)

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