President Donald Trump is organizing another in-person gathering for his meme coinholders later this month at Mar-a-Lago, yet the cost to attend has dropped significantly compared to last year. The Solana-based TRUMP token team, which finalized the attendee list on Tuesday based on a leaderboard tied to token holdings and other criteria, announced these changes.
Previously, VIP attendees had amassed millions of dollars’ worth of tokens; however, this time, achieving VIP status at President Trump’s event—a luncheon and conference for top holders—cost approximately 90% less. The price dropped from around $3 million to about $300,000.
VIP access provides the highest level of entry for the event, allowing attendees a private “meet and learn” experience with notable figures such as Tether’s Paolo Ardoino, retired boxer Mike Tyson, and Cathie Wood of Ark Invest. This privilege was extended to the top 29 registered TRUMP holders based on points from time-weighted token holdings between March 12 and April 14.
On-chain data indicates that at least one account gaining VIP status—ranked 12th with a Solana address starting in “Ciz7y”—never held more than 114,212 TRUMP tokens during the snapshot period. These tokens, now valued around $318,000, had previously peaked at about $473,000 on March 15 when the token traded at $4.14.
Another VIP holder, the Solana address “2ciorM,” transferred in approximately 102,000 TRUMP tokens on March 12 and made no further transactions. These tokens, now worth around $283,000, secured a rank of 17th, surpassing the VIP threshold. This is a stark contrast to last year’s event, where top finalists held millions of dollars’ worth of tokens to earn VIP status.
For instance, the final VIP holder from May’s previous event, ranked 25th, had nearly $3 million in TRUMP tokens at the snapshot time. To gain VIP access then required around $4.78 million on average, with the top holder—an account verified by Tron founder Justin Sun as his—holding approximately $19 million.
Justin Sun, who criticized the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial crypto venture earlier this week, remains the top holder on this year’s leaderboard despite his holdings’ value dropping to around $9.3 million due to a steep fall in TRUMP token prices from their peak. He holds about 3.3 million TRUMP tokens, an increase of 1.4 million since last year.
Currently trading at approximately $2.80, the TRUMP token has declined by 29% over the past month and is now 96% below its all-time high of $73.43 shortly after launch. Although it jumped about 40% following the event announcement, those gains have been reversed. Last year’s exclusive event saw the token trading at around $13.08 during the snapshot day—nearly 370% higher than today’s price.
This year’s attendees were also awarded points for purchases of Trump-branded merchandise during the token-holding period, which could impact VIP status but isn’t reflected in on-chain data.
The previous TRUMP meme coin dinner faced scrutiny from Democratic lawmakers who called for an ethics investigation into the invitations. Senator Elizabeth Warren labeled it an “orgy of corruption,” suggesting access to the president was being bought.
This year’s Mar-a-Lago event will require background checks and ensure attendees are not residents of KYC-watchlist countries. According to terms, slated for April 25, the event may be canceled or altered without guaranteeing President Trump’s attendance. If he cannot attend or the event is canceled, attendees will receive a Trump-themed NFT.