U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson declined to address mounting concerns over a controversial dinner hosted by President Donald Trump for top holders of his memecoin, TRUMP, amid growing calls for transparency and a federal investigation.
During a May 25 interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Johnson deflected questions about the May 22 event, stating he was unaware of the gathering and chose not to weigh in. “I don’t know anything about the dinner,” Johnson said, adding he was focused on congressional duties, including negotiating a $1.6 trillion federal budget.
Pressed by Tapper on the lack of transparency surrounding the attendee list—many of whom are believed to be foreign nationals—Johnson again sidestepped the issue, saying,
“I’m not going to comment on something I haven’t even heard about.”
Despite that, he defended the former president, claiming Trump was “the most transparent president in history” and “has nothing to hide.”
The dinner, held at Trump National Golf Club in Virginia, was exclusively for the top 220 holders of the TRUMP memecoin. Notable guests reportedly included Tron founder Justin Sun, an outspoken supporter and the largest known holder of the token, and BitMart CEO Sheldon Xia, who shared photos from the event on social media. Australian crypto investor Kain Warwick also confirmed his attendance after acquiring enough TRUMP tokens to rank among the top 25 holders.
Bloomberg previously reported that most of the dinner guests were likely foreign nationals, raising alarm among Democrats who fear potential violations of federal bribery laws and the Constitution’s foreign emoluments clause, which prohibits presidents from accepting gifts or money from foreign entities without Congressional consent.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, a staunch critic of crypto, described the event as an “orgy of corruption” during a press conference on May 22. Joined by other Democratic lawmakers, she called for the Justice Department to investigate the event and demanded the full list of attendees be made public.
Additionally, the U.S. House Democrats intensified scrutiny of Trump’s crypto dealings, demanding the Treasury Department release suspicious activity reports (SARs) linked to his digital ventures.
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