Trump’s social media post triggered a brief price rally for the Solana-based token, reigniting debate over mixing politics and digital assets
President Donald Trump publicly endorsed his official meme coin on a Truth Social post last Sunday morning.
The $TRUMP coin, issued on the Solana blockchain, prompted a swift 10% spike in the token’s value, climbing to $12.17. This happened after Trump posted to his 9.3 million followers, “I LOVE $TRUMP — SO COOL!!! The Greatest of them all!”
According to CoinGecko, the price surge followed a rebound from the token’s 24-hour low of $10.75, as trading volumes spiked to levels not seen since early March.
Despite the move, $TRUMP remains down more than 84% from its all-time high of $73.40 set shortly after its launch on January 17.
The Memecoin market is overall in a downtrend, with major coins such as Dogecoin and Shiba Inu experiencing significant price drops and trading volumes declining by 26% and 13% respectively in the last month.
Ethical questions surround presidential endorsement
The President’s endorsement has drawn sharp criticism from legal experts, particularly due to the token’s ownership structure.
Trump-affiliated entities—including CIC Digital LLC and Fight Fight Fight LLC—control approximately 80% of the total $TRUMP token supply, according to project documentation mentioned on the official website.
Andrew Rossow, a digital media attorney and CEO of AR Media’s global brand impact consulting firm, told Decrypt that the promotion raised serious red flags.
“This sets a dangerous precedent for leveraging public office for personal financial gain,” he said.
Rossowadded that Trump’s involvement “undermines regulatory agencies such as the SEC and CFTC, eroding trust in impartial governance”.
He also went on tooutline three constitutional concerns: possible violations of the Emoluments Clause, failure to uphold regulatory duties under Article II, and unequal market treatment in conflict with the Fifth Amendment.
“Foreign actors can anonymously purchase these tokens, creating serious national security concerns,” he warned.
Lawmakers respond with MEME Act as scrutiny grows
In February, House Democrats introduced the MEME Act, legislation that would bar federal officials and their families from profiting from meme coin activity.
Rep. Sam Liccardo spearheaded the bill, accusing the Trump family of “financially exploiting the public for personal gain”.
“The Trumps’ issuance of meme coins raises the specter of insider trading and foreign influence over the Executive Branch,” Liccardo wrote in a blog post on February 27, announcing the measure.
The $TRUMP token, launched in January with an initial supply of 200 million, plans to scale to 1 billion tokens over three years.
At its peak, it exceeded a $14.5 billion market cap before crashing in the weeks following the inauguration.
Luis Buenaventura, head of crypto at digital payments platform GCash, told Decrypt that the price action reflects fading enthusiasm.
“The market is no longer excitable about the Trump token,” he said, noting that traders now view it as a vehicle for short-term profits rather than long-term growth.
