Trump 'furious' after lobbyist behind XRP-tied crypto post revealed to have worked for Ripple: Politico
Quick Take
- A lobbyist firm working for Ripple was behind President Donald Trump’s post to Truth Social saying that XRP, Solana and Cardano should be included in a “Crypto Strategic Reserve,” according to Politico, which cited anonymous sources.
- Trump got upset with the person running the lobbyist group which crafted the post after the president discovered Ripple was a client of the firm.
President Donald Trump was reportedly upset after he learned his Truth Social post saying XRP, Solana and Cardano should be included in a "Crypto Strategic Reserve" was crafted by a lobbyist firm working for Ripple, according to Politico, which cited anonymous sources.
An employee of Ballard Partners, the lobbying group run by Brian Ballard, is said to have provided Trump with a message they thought the president should write, according to Politico. Trump then posted the "missive," according to Politico, but then became angry when he learned that Ballard worked for Ripple, the report also said.
Trump's Truth Social post from March read: "A U.S. Crypto Reserve will elevate this critical industry after years of corrupt attacks by the Biden Administration, which is why my Executive Order on Digital Assets directed the Presidential Working Group to move forward on a Crypto Strategic Reserve that includes XRP, SOL, and ADA. I will make sure the U.S. is the Crypto Capital of the World."
Cardano, XRP, and Solana all rose in price after Trump's post. The president later clarified that the planned reserve would also hold Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Although Ripple maintains that it does not control XRP, it is the company most closely associated with the token. Ripple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to Politico, Trump was not only "furious and felt like he’d been used," Ballard quickly became a pariah "in the West Wing" in the aftermath. Ballard Partners did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Politico also reported that Ballard's "image as a Trump whisperer has allowed his firm to rack up a staggering 130 new clients since the November election, including Chevron, JP Morgan, Palantir, Netflix, Bayer, United Airlines and T-Mobile. "
In March, Trump signed another executive order to create a U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
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