Don Jr. Says ‘I Wasn’t Involved’ with $TRUMP Meme Coin

At least one member of the Trump family is distancing themself from the notorious $TRUMP meme coin.

Donald Trump Jr., President Trump’s oldest son, says he was not involved in the development of the $TRUMP meme coin that was launched shortly before the January inauguration and has drawn widespread criticism in political and business circles.

“I wasn’t involved in the meme coin,” Trump Jr. said in an interview on CNBC. “I’m more focused on the stablecoin, the Bitcoin (BTC) mining.” Don Jr., as he’s known, did defend his family’s broader foray into cryptocurrencies, saying it is a response to being frozen out of the traditional banking system.

Ethical Questions

Meme coins are a class of cryptocurrency fueled by social media and celebrity hype rather than functional utility. They often trade in volatile patterns, with the price shooting higher only to quickly crash. Still, meme coins remain popular with individual retail investors and some crypto enthusiasts.

President Donald Trump’s $TRUMP token, 80% of which is controlled by the Trump Organization, has become the centerpiece of the family’s rapidly growing crypto empire. The meme coin went live three days before the January inauguration, soaring to a $15 billion market cap before erasing those gains.

President Trump’s deepening involvement in crypto has drawn widespread criticism on ethical grounds, notably concerns that a sitting president with ties to digital tokens could create new avenues for influence peddling or foreign capital flows. In May of this year, President Trump held a private dinner for the top holders of the $TRUMP meme coin where the Commander In Chief spoke to the assembled crowd.

Is $TRUMP a Buy?

Most Wall Street firms don’t offer ratings or price targets on cryptocurrencies, so we’ll look instead at the three-month performance of Bitcoin. As one can see in the chart below, the price of BTC has risen 20.32% in the last 12 weeks.