Blumenthal Announces Resolution Condemning Trump Crypto Corruption

[WASHINGTON, DC] – Today, following new reporting in the New York Times that a technology company with ties to China and reliant on TikTok intends to purchase as much as $300 million of President Donald Trump’s meme coin, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) announced a resolution condemning Donald Trump’s pattern of corrupt self-enrichment, selling out the public interest for his own benefit.

"My resolution will test Republicans— whether they will aid and abet Donald Trump's self-enriching lawlessness thuggery, enabling his seemingly boundless greed. China and other foreign governments have figured out how to get to Donald Trump: through his wallet, his vanity, and his bank account. Trump's two-month tariff policy threw our economy into a tailspin, zeroing out retirement accounts and putting small businesses out of business— backing out just twenty-four hours before a Chinese tech company announced plans to drop as much as $300 million into his crypto piggy bank," Blumenthal said.

“Trump’s crypto corruption is so massive and brazen, there is little doubt that he will keep selling out the American people until Republicans grow a spine. Next week, while Trump dines with whoever has funneled the most money into his pocket, I’ll be calling for passage of this resolution as a test to see if Republicans are more than mere lackeys to President Trump’s self-enrichment schemes.”

Just this week, Trump accepted a $400 million luxury jet from the royal family of Qatar and lifted decades-old sanctions on Syria while discussing plans for “a Trump Tower in Damascus.” Next week, Trump plans to host dinner with the 220 people who purchased the most $TRUMP meme coins, which pumped the value of $TRUMP to the financial benefit of the President. In April, a shipping company with operations in Mexico announced that it would spend $20 million on Trump meme coins with the explicitly stated intent of influencing tariff policy.

On Tuesday, Blumenthal sought Senate passage of another resolution to stop Trump from accepting payments and gifts from foreign governments. The resolution – which was blocked by Senate Republicans – would authorize the Senate to take legal action to enforce Trump’s compliance with the Foreign Emoluments Clause, which requires the President of the United States and other federal officials to seek and obtain the affirmative consent of Congress before accepting any benefits from foreign states.

Earlier this month, Blumenthal, Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, opened a preliminary inquiry into the $TRUMP cryptocurrency, World Liberty Financial Inc. (WLFI), and other associated business ventures following reporting that Trump-connected cryptocurrency firms may be enabling the violation of government ethics requirements, facilitating financial transactions with foreign nationals under federal prosecution, taking investments from foreign governments, and potentially violating federal laws.

In a letter sent to Fight Fight Fight LLC – the company that launched President Donald Trump’s cryptocurrency, the $TRUMP meme coin – Blumenthal demanded answers about steps the company has taken to address conflicts of interest posed by the President’s ability to profit from the market value and activity of the token.

Blumenthal is also seeking answers from Zach Witkoff, the co-founder of another Trump-connected cryptocurrency firm, WLFI, about how the President may be violating the law and using the immense power of the federal government to enrich the company, its foreign business partners, and others in the cryptocurrency industry, rather than look out for American economic and national interests. In particular, Blumenthal raised concerns that a recently announced deal with the Emirati state-owned investment firm MGX, in addition to future investments from foreign governments, could violate the ban on foreign gifts and payments under the foreign emoluments clause of the Constitution.

Blumenthal is also seeking records and documents from both organizations, including communications between the companies and the Trump Organization, the President, the Executive Office of the President, and foreign governments.

In 2017, Blumenthal and U.S. Representative Jerry Nadler (D-NY) led roughly 200 Members of the Senate and House of Representatives in taking legal action seeking to compel President Donald Trump to comply with the Foreign Emoluments Clause.

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