Mass protests in Los Angeles began last week after US Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted raids throughout the city, targeting places like Home Depots, car washes, and the garment district. 

Demonstrations grew in response to the federal agents’ presence and actions, leading to clashes with police. In response, President Donald Trump deployed thousands of National Guard troops to the city over the weekend and about 700 Marines by midweek.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom swiftly denounced Trump’s orders, and filed an emergency lawsuit to block the president’s “brazen abuse of power.” LA Mayor Karen Bass declared a local emergency, and enacted an indefinite curfew in downtown Los Angeles. Both officials claim this is the administration’s broader attempt to escalate the situation on the ground and to intimidate the city’s undocumented population.

Solidarity protests have spread to more than a dozen US cities, including New York, San Francisco, Chicago, and Atlanta, with more arrests nationwide.

This is a developing story. Follow here for the latest news, explainers, and analysis.

• Trump is frustrated by his own success on immigration
• The real reason Trump is suddenly ordering immigration raids
• I’m the daughter of immigrants. The LA I know isn’t in the news.
• The LA protests reveal what actually unites the Trump right
• How a little-known law became Trump’s weapon of choice against immigration
• Trump asks the Supreme Court to neutralize the Convention Against Torture
• Trump escalates his battle with California
• Trump deploying the National Guard is part of a bigger plan

US President Donald Trump hosted a highly publicized crypto dinner on May 22 for top holders of the TRUMP memecoin, attracting a mix of crypto elites and public figures from across the globe.

The exclusive event, first announced in April, was reserved for the top 220 TRUMP token holders. The 25 largest holders received VIP access, including a private reception with Trump before dinner.

According to data from CryptoRank, the attendees collectively held around $394 million worth of the TRUMP token before the event. Notably, 72% of guests came from outside the US, highlighting the memecoin’s global appeal.

Meanwhile, TRON founder Justin Sun topped the list of attendees with a $19 million stake in the TRUMP token, while the average guest held approximately $1.79 million in TRUMP. The median investment in the digital asset was about $348,000.

Who attended TRUMP’s dinner?

While Trump’s team did not publish an official guest list, social media posts and blockchain data helped confirm several attendees.

These included Justin Sun, Vincent Liu of Kronos Research, Synthetix founder Kain Warwick, Magic Eden CEO Jack Lu, and unnamed representatives of crypto projects like Biconomy, Sonic SVM, and SolCex.

Others who spotted or self-reported at the event were former NBA player Lamar Odom, who recently launched the ODOM token, MemeCore executives like Rudy Rong, and Russian-born crypto entrepreneur Nikita Anufriev.

The guests described the event as a rare convergence of global crypto players, many of whom flew in from Asia and Europe. Liu of Kronos said:

“Hearing President Trump affirm his support for crypto in person is both inspiring and deeply motivating.”

Meanwhile, photos shared on social media revealed a luxury dinner featuring halibut, filet mignon, and a signature organic salad named after Trump.

Notably, Sun said he received a Trump Tourbillon Watch at the dinner

TRUMP token dumps after dinner gala

While the dinner was intended to celebrate the eponymous token’s success, market sentiment quickly soured. Shortly after the event, the price of TRUMP dropped over 7% to $13.70, according to CryptoSlate’s data.

Blockchain sleuths revealed that nearly half the gala attendees no longer held TRUMP tokens in their wallets. In fact, 92 of the 220 eligible wallets had fully exited their positions before the event.

Additionally, the token balances among top holders declined from 11.3 million to 7 million post-dinner.

Moreover, the glitz of the event also attracted heat from demonstrators and US lawmakers alike, who criticized the event as a pay-to-play scheme.

Senator Chris Murphy called the gala “corrupt” and demanded that Trump release the official guest list if the dinner was legitimate.

He said:

“Trump’s meme coin is designed to facilitate corruption. You can pay Trump secretly, which gets you secret special access to the President. If Trump’s dinner with the top coin buyers was legit, he would release the list of attendees. But it’s corrupt. So the list stays hidden.”

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