U.S. President Donald Trump was reportedly misled by a Ripple-linked lobbyist into endorsing sure crypto in a Truth Social post a couple of U.S. crypto reserve in March, resulting in the lobbyist’s elimination and straining ties with high White Home officers.
A Truth Social post by U.S. President Donald Trump praising Ripple (XRP), Solana (SOL), and Cardano (ADA) as potential parts of a U.S. “Crypto Strategic Reserve” has triggered inside battle in Trump’s circle, not resulting from market affect, however due to who authored the message.
In accordance with Politico, Trump published the post in early March, asserting that his administration would position the U.S. because the “Crypto Capital of the World” by together with choose tokens like XRP, SOL, and ADA in a brand new reserve system.
Nevertheless, the joy shortly become frustration. Trump later discovered that the message had been drafted by a lobbyist affiliated with Ballard Companions, a agency whose purchasers embrace Ripple Labs, the corporate most carefully related to XRP.
Two nameless sources informed Politico {that a} Ballard worker handed Trump the draft throughout a donor occasion at Mar-a-Lago and inspired him to publicly assist the digital belongings.
Unaware of the lobbyist’s affiliations, Trump reportedly posted the message with out figuring out the total context.
Workers firing
As soon as Trump realized Ripple’s connection, he was reportedly livid and ordered his staff to sever ties with the lobbyist. “He’s not welcome in something anymore,” one supply quoted Trump as saying.
Whereas Ripple maintains it doesn’t management XRP, the corporate is a central participant within the token’s ecosystem and has been concerned in a number of authorized and regulatory battles.
The timing of Trump’s post — and the ensuing worth spikes in XRP, SOL, and ADA — added gas to suspicions of market manipulation or political opportunism.
Ballard Companions, led by longtime Trump ally Brian Ballard, has held vital sway in Washington since Trump’s 2016 election. The agency reportedly introduced in $14 million in lobbying income in Q1 2025 and represents high-profile purchasers together with TikTok and BMW.
Following the incident, nevertheless, Ballard has reportedly been frozen out of Trump’s orbit, with workers instructed to keep away from conferences with the agency.
Ballard has pushed again on the narrative. In a press release to Politico, he mentioned the agency is “accustomed to false accusations” and denied leveraging his relationship with Trump for enterprise. Nonetheless, some near the president consider the fallout was inevitable. “One approach to get your self within the doghouse is for the president to suppose you’re buying and selling on his title,” a Trump confidant mentioned.
Whereas Trump later clarified that Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) would even be included in any strategic reserve, the harm had been executed.
The White Home declined to touch upon the matter. Ripple additionally has not issued a public assertion.
