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In the crypto world, meme coins are mostly just jokes with no intrinsic value. But the Trump family is parlaying the presidents meme coin into two valuable commodities: serious cash and access to the president. Since the coin was launched earlier this year, it has generated more than $320 million in fees for its creators, according to the blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis. And on Monday, Trump promoted a dinner hes set to attend on May 22 thats open to almost anyone who buys enough of the coins. According to the contests rules, the top 220 holders of the meme coin will get to go to the dinner at Trumps Washington-area golf club. The top 25 holders will also get to attend a reception where they can rub shoulders with Trump beforehand. Let the President know how many $TRUMP coins YOU own! the meme coin said on its website promoting the dinner. Trading activity in the meme coin jumped after the dinner was first announced and the price rose as well. But the Trumps dont need to sell any coins to make money. How Trump makes money off the meme coin Decentralization is foundational to cryptocurrency. Bitcoin, the worlds most popular crypto, was born in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis as a digital currency meant to be uncontrolled by banks or governments. Trump meme coins can be traded on a decentralized exchange, which is essentially a place where traders can swap goods without a middleman. Instead of matching buyers and sellers one by one, decentralized exchanges use something called a liquidity pool to ensure trades can happen easily and instantly. Liquidity pools are essentially an automated pot of funds that pair meme coins like $TRUMP with more popular types of crypto that can be easily traded. When the Trump meme coin was first launched, its creators initially released 20% of the planned 1 billion total coins. Half of that 20% was put up for public sale while the other half was put into a liquidity pool. CIC Digital, an affiliate of the Trump Organization, and another company receive trading revenue derived from trading activities of the Trump meme coins, according to its website. Through the liquidity pool, the creators of Trumps meme coins make money by charging tiny fees on each trade. You dont really care about what happens to the price. You only care that there is continuous volume, said Nicolai Sndergaard, a research analyst at the blockchain analytics firm Nansen. Because the more volume there is, that means more trades and therefore more fees for you. Since cryptocurrency blockchains are public, its possible to track how much in trading fees has been paid. Chainalysis said Trump meme coin creators made more than $1.3 million in trading fees in the week after the dinner was first announced. The value of the meme coin jumped from about $9 to around $14 just after the announcement. It was trading around $11 on Monday afternoon. Trump downplays profits Launched just before he took office, Trumps meme coin has become one of the most high-profile ways the norm-breaking president has mixed politics and his personal finances. The remaining 80% of Trumps meme coins, which are still under a lock-up, have been allocated to CIC Digital and another company. An ethics agreement prohibits Trump from day-to-day decision making at the Trump Organization when hes president and limits the financial information about the business that can be shared with him. During an interview with NBCs Meet the Press over the weekend, Trump said he didnt follow the price swings of his meme coin and dismissed the idea that he was profiting from the presidency. He also rejected a suggestion that he would forgo any profits made from his crypto endeavors. Should I contribute all of my real estate that Ive owned for many years if it goes up a little bit because Im president and doing a good job? I dont think so, Trump said. Heavy promotion The team behind Trumps meme coins has been aggressively trying to promote the chance to eat with the president. Good News! President Trump is allowing one more person to attend Dinner with Trump, the meme coins official account on X said last week, encouraging people to reply with memes featuring Trump. Our favorite $TRUMP memes will be shown to President Trump and we will pick 1 person who gets to come to the dinner on May 22nd! The creators have also tried to up the ante by offering $100,000 Trump-themed watches to the top four holders of Trumps meme coins. Unknown guests On Monday night, Trump hosted a closed-door Crypto & AI Innovators Dinner fundraiser sponsored by his MAGA Inc. super PAC at his golf club outside Washington. An invitation to the event that circulated online instructs those invited to pay $1.5 million per person to attend. The White House did not provide a list of attendees, though the super PAC eventually will be required to list donors in its regular public disclosures. Whether the public will ever know who bought their way into the meme coin dinner with the president is unclear, though. Unlike political donations that must be publicly reported, theres no disclosure requirement for meme coin buyers. Critics of Trumps foray into meme coins, which includes several Democrats, say the pseudonymous nature of cryptocurrency gives bad actors the opportunity to try and unduly influence the president through purchasing his digital assets. The Trump meme coin website assures those who register for the contest that their full legal name and contact information will never be publicly shown. Instead, registrants pick a username thats displayed on the websites leaderboard. The ranking is dependent not just on how many Trump meme coins someone holds, but also on how long. After No. 220, the board has a note of encouragement for those just below the cut to buy more of the meme coins. Youre so close. FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT for your $TRUMP dinner. Alan Suderman, AP business writer Associated Press reporter Will Weissert contributed.
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E-Commerce
Two government agencies are warning Americans about threats from Salmonella outbreaks this week. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has cautioned about a multi-state outbreak of the potentially deadly bacteria in poultry, while the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has posted two recall notices about tomatoes that are feared to be tainted with Salmonella. Although the poultry and tomato salmonella outbreaks are not reported to be linked, each should be taken seriously given the threat that Salmonella infections can pose. Heres what you need to know about the Salmonella outbreak and recalls. CDC announces Salmonella outbreak linked to poultry On May 5, the CDC issued an investigation notice confirming a multi-state outbreak of the potentially deadly bacteria. The outbreak is believed to be linked to human contact with backyard poultry, including chickens and ducks. The agency says that two individuals who became sick reported obtaining poultry from agricultural retail stores beforehand. However, an individual does not need to consume poultry to become infected with Salmonella. The CDC says that simply touching infected birds, supplies the animals have come into contact with, or the eggs they have laid is enough to contract the bacteria. The CDC says that between February 9 and March 24, 2025, seven people across six states have been confirmed to have been infected with Salmonella. The illnesses occurred in the following states: Utah: 1 South Dakota: 1 Wisconsin: 1 Illinois: 1 Missouri: 2 Florida: 1 However, the CDC says that the number of sick individuals is likely much higher. Thats because many people who become infected with Salmonella get sick and recover fully at home without ever reporting the illness to health authorities. The CDC also notes that it usually takes between three and four weeks to determine if a sick individual is part of an outbreak, which means the agencys current numbers may be lagging behind the actual number of cases up to this point in time. FDA posts Salmonella-linked tomato recalls Separately, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has posted recall notices on its website for tomatoes that are feared to possibly be contaminated with Salmonella. There is no indication that the tomato recalls and the poultry outbreak are linked. On May 3, the FDA published a recall notice from Ray & Mascari Inc. of Indianapolis, Indiana. The voluntary recall covers the companys 4 Count Vine Ripe Tomatoes product. The tomatoes were acquired from a Florida provider who discovered that they may be contaminated with Salmonella. The recalled product is as follows: Brand Name: Ray & Mascari Inc. Product name: 4 Count Vine Ripe Tomatoes Package: clam shell containers [20 oz. (1 lb. 4 oz) 567g] UPC: 7 96553 20062 1 Lot numbers: Lot# RM250424 15250B or Lot# RM250427 15250B The recalled tomatoes were sold by Gordon Food Service Stores in eleven states: Illinois Indiana Kentucky Michigan Missouri Mississippi New York Ohio Pennsylvania Tennessee Wisconsin On May 2, the FDA published a recall notice from Williams Farms Repack LLC of Lodge, South Carolina, for some of its tomato products over fears they could be contaminated with salmonella. The tomato products were sold in multiple package sizes under the brand name H&C Farms Label. The full list of products affected by this recall can be found here. The products covered under this recall were sold to wholesalers and distributors between 4/23/2025 and 4/28/2025. They were sold in the following states: Georgia North Carolina South Carolina There is currently no indication that the two tomato recalls are linked, nor is there any indication that they are linked to the multi-state poultry Salmonella outbreak. Consumers who believe they may have the recalled tomatoes should read the respective recall notices carefully for instructions on what to do. What is Salmonella? Salmonella is a bacterium that can make you very sick if ingested. According to the CDC, the symptoms of Salmonella can include: Watery diarrhea that might have blood or mucus Stomach cramps that can be severe Headache Nausea Vomiting Loss of appetite The agency says that symptoms can begin anywhere from six hours to six days after infection. Symptoms can last for anywhere between four and seven days. While many people can recover without treatment, some may require hospitalization. In certain cases, Salmonella infections can cause death. The illness can be particularly troublesome for people who have weakened immune systems, are 65 or older, or are younger than 5. In 2024, there were several significant Salmonella outbreaks, including a backyard poultry outbreak in May of that year that sickened more than 100 people and an outbreak reported in September linked to eggs that sickened at least 65 people.
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E-Commerce
DoorDash, the ubiquitous U.S. food delivery app, has agreed to acquire British rival Deliveroo for 2.9 billion pounds ($3.9 billion) in cash, expanding its business in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. San Francisco-based DoorDash will pay 180 pence ($2.40) for each Deliveroo share, 29% more than the closing price on April 24, the day before the offer was announced, the companies said in a joint statement before the London Stock Exchange opened for trading on Tuesday. The deal is DoorDashs second major international acquisition in three years as the company expands from its traditional base in the U.S., Canada and Australia. After the purchase of Deliveroo, and the 2022 acquisition of Helsinki-based Wolt Enterprises, DoorDash will operate in more than 40 markets worldwide. I could not be more excited by the prospect of what DoorDash and Deliveroo will be able to accomplish together, DoorDash CEO Tony Xu said in the statement. Both companies were founded in 2013, using the then emerging technology of smartphones to link restaurants and their customers to a network of delivery riders. Deliveroo now operates in nine countries, including the U.K. and Ireland, which accounted for 59% of its business in 2023. It also does business in France, Italy, Belgium, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar. The acquisition comes less than three months after technology investment company Prosus agreed to buy Amsterdam-based Just Eat Takeaway.com for 4.1 billion euros ($4.29 billion), boosting its food delivery portfolio in Europe.
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E-Commerce
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