Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Friday that President Donald Trump is hosting “The Most Exclusive Dinner in the World” for the top investors in his meme coin, an event he said is another pay-to-play scheme. Schiff said the president has used the coin to line his pockets to the tune of more than $600 million, and he called for answers on who is buying influence.
Schiff posted the statement on X at 10:12 a.m. on Oct. 23, 2026, and linked a Mother Jones article about a Senate Democratic letter on the event.
Schiff’s full post read:
“Trump is hosting what he calls “The Most Exclusive Dinner in the World.”
It’s another dinner for the top investors in his meme coin, which he has used to line his pockets to the tune of over $600 million so far.
We need answers on this latest pay-to-play scheme and who is buying influence with the President.”
What the Linked Report Says
According to the article, a group of eight lawmakers led by Schiff sent a letter to the White House on Thursday demanding information about the gala. It is scheduled for Nov. 22 at the president’s DC-area golf club, a few weeks after the midterm elections. The coin’s promoters advertise it as the most exclusive dinner in the world.
The coin’s website says the top 185 holders will be invited, and the top 29 will get access to a VIP reception. It also promises time with Trump and three or four unnamed “legends.” Small print states that there will be no private meetings with the president and that no gifts will be accepted.
The letter cites a recent investigation finding that half of the top 100 coin holders trade on exchanges that bar U.S. citizens. It says that raises concerns about conflicts of interest from heavy foreign participation at an event with the president.
The letter makes eight demands, including how the White House will vet attendees. The last asks for a commitment to release a full “unredacted log of all event attendees,” with their corporate and foreign affiliations, within 10 days of the gala. It also asks the White House to preserve all related records. The White House did not respond to a request for comment, the article says.
The article reports that the coin has fallen from $74 after its January 2025 launch to about $1.75 on Thursday. It cites an analysis from June finding that more than 1 million investors lost about $3.8 billion combined. It says Trump’s latest financial disclosure indicates he earned about $635 million from the arrangement.
It says there were two previous exclusive events involving the president, at Mar-a-Lago and at the same Virginia golf club. The coin’s backers have also run contests offering hospitality at the World Cup and Super Bowl. The article notes the gala falls during a GOP-controlled lame-duck Congress, and that a Democratic win next month would raise the prospect of subpoena power.
Schiff’s Record on the Meme Coin
On April 25, 2025, Schiff and Sen. Elizabeth Warren asked the Office of Government Ethics to investigate the first meme coin dinner. They warned of “pay to play” corruption and said the coin had generated at least $350 million in fees for entities tied to the president.
That letter also raised the possibility that foreign actors could use the coin to curry favor without public disclosure. It cited reports of ties to foreign exchanges, including a roughly $13 million purchase through a purportedly Chinese-founded exchange.
On June 23, 2025, Schiff introduced the COIN Act with nine Democratic senators. It would bar the president, vice president and family from issuing or endorsing digital assets, require crypto disclosure on financial reports, and apply criminal conflict-of-interest recusal rules. Schiff said it would “put a stop to this corruption in plain sight.”
Days before introducing the COIN Act, Schiff joined 17 other Senate Democrats in voting for the GENIUS Act, a stablecoin framework. Democrats had sought language addressing the president’s crypto ventures, which was not included, and some critics questioned the pairing of the two actions.
In April 2026, Schiff, Warren and Sen. Richard Blumenthal wrote to Bill Zanker, a promoter of the coin, about a gala at Mar-a-Lago. They said organizers were “dangling access” to the president to encourage purchases that generate fees for his family. The senators also sent a letter to event organizer Fight LLC seeking documents on planning, attendee vetting and finances.
What Remains Unresolved
The White House has not responded to the latest letter. The coin site says there will be no private meetings with the president, and the Nov. 22 gala is still weeks away.