A few hundred of the top $TRUMP memecoin holders were treated to some one-on-one time with US President Donald Trump and his high-profile guests on Saturday at an event at his Florida club, where Trump warned bankers against getting in the way of crypto legislation.
Speaking at the private Mar-a-Lago gathering in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump took the position his White House crypto advisers had taken on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. He pushed back against the bank lobbyists who had stalled the legislation — the crypto industry’s primary political target.
The White House will not let the banks destroy the crypto market structure legislation, Trump said at the event, a finance-focused gathering that was billed as “the most exclusive conference in the world.”
In recent months of negotiations, banking groups had won over some senators over their concerns about how US rules would pave the way for stablecoin rewards programs, which bankers argued could threaten their traditional deposit accounts. The objection derailed the Senate’s progress on efforts to win a new US regulatory regime for crypto, although recent discussions suggest the bill could still get back on track and has a potential path to survive a tighter legislative calendar this year. Trump has signaled that it is a priority.
The president’s event featured a roster of crypto executives and investors, including Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, Ark Invest’s Cathie Wood and Anchorage Digital CEO Nathan McCauley. Boxer Mike Tyson was also present.
In addition to crypto, Trump touched on foreign policy issues including Iran, Venezuela and NATO, which he described as a “paper tiger” that is “never there for us.”
As for the digital asset industry, Trump stuck to his usual script: “We’re the leader in crypto. It’s gone mainstream,” he said.
The conference comes as Trump continues to back crypto ventures attached to his name, drawing both industry support and political scrutiny. His close personal ties to digital asset companies have been among the other problems in passing the Clarity Act, as Democratic negotiators have insisted that senior officials, including the president, be barred from profiting from the industry.
An earlier event he appeared at for his memecoin investors last year touched off protests and Democratic criticism that his policy goals benefit his own business interests in an example of government corruption that needs to end. He was also criticized for meeting privately with unnamed foreign businessmen who had actually paid for their attendance.
