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If Meme Coins Have ‘No Use,’ Why is Trump Charging for Them?
Following the recent declaration by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that meme coins have “no use,” and ahead of the first-ever White House crypto summit on Friday, March 7th, Public Citizen called for the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) to investigate whether Donald Trump’s meme coin venture constitutes gift solicitation, which would be illegal.
“If Trump’s meme coins have ‘no use’ and are marketed as a way to simply ‘celebrate’ his leadership, then Trump requiring payment for his memes may constitute illegal solicitation of gifts,” said Bartlett Naylor, financial policy advocate at Public Citizen. “As the White House cozies up to the crypto industry — which spent over a hundred million dollars to influence the 2024 elections — and Trump personally profits from a crypto venture, the conflicts of interest and potentially illegal abuses of power on display should concern every American.”
Public Citizen is closely tracking the crypto industry’s election spending and influence on elected officials, including Trump.
Additional resources include:
- Our comprehensive report on unprecedented crypto spending in the 2024 election
- Our reaction to Trump’s executive order on crypto and a national asset stockpile
- Our first complaint re Trump’s meme coin venture
For additional information on Trump’s meme coin or reactions to Friday’s summit, please contact Emily Leach, eleach@citizen.org to speak with an expert.
Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that champions the public interest in the halls of power. We defend democracy, resist corporate power and work to ensure that government works for the people - not for big corporations. Founded in 1971, we now have 500,000 members and supporters throughout the country.
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Trump Delays Some Mexican, Canadian Tariffs After Talk With Sheinbaum
"Everything Trump does on trade maximizes chaos and uncertainty," said one lawmaker.
Mar 06, 2025
In a move that one Democratic lawmaker said would further harm the United States' "credibility and our economy," U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday postponed tariffs on certain Canadian and Mexican imports after a discussion with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
Trump had imposed 25% tariffs on the countries' imports on Tuesday, saying the levies were aimed at pressuring Canada and Mexico to take more action to stop the flow of fentanyl into the United States.
Sheinbaum, who had threatened to impose tariffs in retaliation, said in a press conference that she convinced Trump to delay the tariffs on products traded under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) until April 2.
The Mexican leader said she had sent Trump U.S. Customs and Border Protection data showing that fentanyl trafficking has already dropped significantly in recent months, with seizures of the drug decreasing by 40% over the past month.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum: “It’s a very definitive moment for Mexico, depending on what happens these days until Sunday. There will be no submission. Mexicans are brave, resistant, and full of strength.”
Sheinbaum’s statement comes as Mexico prepares to respond to U.S.… https://t.co/IgdSEzqdL7 pic.twitter.com/LvxdvOVfq3
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) March 6, 2025
Sheinbaum said she asked Trump, "How can we continue cooperating, collaborating when this hurts the people of Mexico?"
"It was simply: 'Understand me. The most important thing is my people,'" she said Thursday. "'And I need to continue collaborating and cooperating with you, but in a situation of equality.'"
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, noted that only a very small amount of fentanyl enters the U.S. from Canada.
Trump did not make a public statement about delaying the Canadian tariffs on Thursday, but included them in an executive order he signed postponing them.
The president also delayed 25% tariffs on auto industry imports on Wednesday after car manufacturers said the levies would hit them hard financially.
U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) said businesses across the U.S. "are delaying decisions, investments, and hiring, because they don't know what Trump will do."
"Everything Trump does on trade maximizes chaos and uncertainty," said Beyer. "Keeping his tariffs in place will cost families up to $2,000, but imposing and lifting them over and over again also has a cost."
With Trump's delay only applying to goods traded under USMCA, the White House said 62% of imports from Canada and 50% of those Mexico will still face the tariffs that were imposed this week. Experts have stressed that these costs will be passed on to consumers.
Outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday that the country expects "to be in a trade war that was launched by the United States for the foreseeable future."
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'Cowardly' and 'Spineless': 10 Dems Join House GOP to Censure Al Green for Disrupting Trump Speech
"Some of these Democrats have more smoke for Rep. Al Green than the man trying to cut Social Security and Medicaid," wrote one critic.
Mar 06, 2025
Ten House Democrats earned rebuke from progressives Thursday for joining with Republicans to censure Rep. Al Green, a Democrat representing Texas, for disrupting U.S. President Donald Trump's speech before Congress earlier this week.
The censure was introduced by Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash) after Green interrupted Trump's address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night. During the speech, Green shook his cane at Trump while standing and shouted that the president had "no mandate to cut Medicaid."
The censure vote in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives was 224-198, with two Democratic members voting present, including Green. The 10 Democrats who joined Republicans in favor of the motion were Reps. Jared Moskowitz of Florida, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, Tom Suozzi of New York, Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, Jim Himes of Connecticut, Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Ami Bera of California, Ed Case of Hawaii, Jim Costa of California, and Laura Gillen of New York. voting with Republican colleagues.
Nina Turner, a former Democratic congressional candidate from Ohio, called them "cowardly."
Prior to the vote, former Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) wrote: "Any Democrat who votes in favor of censuring Al Green should be ashamed of themselves. Do not give Republicans one single Democratic vote."
Prior to the censure vote, Axiosreported on the reaction to Green's heckling of Trump and other acts of of defiance from Democrats during the speech, quoting several Democratic lawmakers—including Suozzi—who said they didn't approve. Axios also reported that some Democrats hadn't ruled out voting yes on the censure vote.
"Some of these Democrats have more smoke for Rep. Al Green than the man trying to cut Social Security and Medicaid," wrote Turner in response to that reporting.
Qasim Rashid, a human rights lawyer, had this to say about the vote: "Bad enough they don't have the courage to do anything more than hold up a silly sign, but to tear down the one Dem willing to get into Good Trouble to oppose fascism? Spineless." During Trump's address, other Democrats sat through the speech and raised signs with messages such as "Save Medicaid" and "Musk Steals."
The Nation's national affairs correspondent Joan Walsh denounced the 10 Democrats for their vote, but she praised the fact that some Democrats sang “We Shall Overcome," in an act of solidarity with Green, while he stood in the well of the House chamber as Speaker Mike Johnson ( R-La.) read him the censure resolution.
She called the whole episode "the worst and the best of the House Democratic caucus."
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'Grim News for the Planet' as Arctic Sea Ice Hits Record Low
"The environment does not care about politics. Keep spewing greenhouse gases and face the consequences."
Mar 06, 2025
European Union officials said the Copernicus Climate Change Service had issued its latest "stark reminder of why climate action is urgent" when the bloc's program announced that it observed less sea ice covering the Earth's oceans last month than at any other point in recorded history.
In the Arctic, sea ice reached its lowest monthly extent on record, at 8% below average, in early February, and it remained below the previous record for the rest of the month.
The oceans were missing an area of ice roughly the size of the United Kingdom last month, according to Copernicus (C3S), and the finding was not an anomaly in recent sea ice observations.
February marked the third consecutive month in which record low sea ice levels for the corresponding month were observed in the Arctic.
C3S reported that in the Antarctic, sea ice levels have rapidly declined in 2025 after appearing to recover to near-record levels in December 2024.
Last month, sea ice near the South Pole reached its fourth-lowest monthly extent, at 26% below average.
C3S said the daily sea ice extent in the Antarctic may have also reached its annual minimum toward the end of the month, which will be confirmed later in March; if confirmed, it would be the second-lowest annual minimum in the satellite record.
"February 2025 continues the streak of record or near-record temperatures observed throughout the last two years," said Samanatha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. "One of the consequences of a warmer world is melting sea ice, and the record or near-record low sea ice cover at both poles has pushed global sea ice cover to an all-time minimum."
The melting sea ice was recorded as global average temperatures rose 1.59°C (2.8°F) above the pre-industrial average last month, making it the third-warmest February on record.
In Europe, the temperatures that most exceeded averages were recorded last month in parts of Scandinavia, Iceland, and the Alps. Outside of Europe, "temperatures were most above average over large parts of the Arctic."
The low extent of sea ice will lead to "more solar heat absorbed by the darker oceans," and "faster warming," said Simon Oldridge, a climate campaigner.
The loss of sea ice can also lead to the collapse of ocean currents that are crucial for marine life to thrive.
C3S reported on the record-low sea ice levels as campaigners in the U.S. and around the world condemned recent anti-climate actions taken by U.S. President Donald Trump and the Republican Party, including the country's exit from the Paris climate agreement, the GOP's passing of a bill to end a federal program aimed at reducing planet-heating methane emissions, and Trump's push to fast-track fossil fuel projects—as scientists warn that new extractive projects have no place on a pathway to limiting planetary heating and avoiding its worst impacts.
"The environment does not care about politics," said public health expert Ali Khan. "Keep spewing greenhouse gases and face the consequences."
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