When XRP posted the truth social on Donald Trump earlier Sunday, March 2, urging the creation of a “strategic cryptocurrency” that would go hand in hand with Solana and Cardano to learn only a few hours later, a move quietly boosted the interest of Ripple Labs and paid for Lobbyist Brian Ballard and willing to be a ”
Here’s the way Trump’s XRP position
The incident began with Mar-a-Lago, where Ballard partners repeatedly urged Trump to release pre-selected language to praise specific digital assets, according to Politico. After two Mronerfoffs, the president handed over the text to the assistant and the information was broadcast live:
“After years of corruption attacks on the Biden administration, U.S. crypto reserves will enhance this critical industry, which is why my executive order on digital assets directs the presidential task force to move forward to advance its strategic crypto reserves, including XRP, SOL and ADA. I will make sure the United States is the crypto capital of the world. We once again make America great!”
A moment later, West Wing officials realized that Ripple was sitting on Ballard’s roster, causing immediate anger. “He felt he was used,” said two officials familiar with the reaction. Trump vented, “He was no longer welcomed by anything,” effectively freezing Ballard’s White House meeting.
White House “Crypto Tsar” David Sacks called Chief of Staff Susie Wiles within minutes to warn the Post that weakened planned government crypto summit next week. Trump famously published another article: “And, obviously, BTC and ETH as other valuable cryptocurrencies will be at the heart of the reserve. I also like Bitcoin and Ethereum!”
Wiles tracks the employee prompted to return to Ballard, where a senior assistant blew up the lobbyist by phone because he “hawk killed his clients.” The staff’s instructions soon followed: no longer meeting Ballard.
Ballard insisted on freezing words to Politico: “We are used to false allegations… Despite these sources who did not want to be named, Ballard’s partners will continue to achieve results.” He listed the invitation to raise funds afterwards and said a scheduled call with a senior official to prove that he was not a role. However, several of his clients quietly approached other Trump allies in the face-to-face time, an implicit recognition that access is now premium.
Poron Trump’s courtship predated the flap. Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty donated more than $300,000 to the pro-Trump committee in 2024; Ripple contributed $5 million in XRP to the inaugural fund and remains a major supporter of Fairshake PAC.
Whether these relationships explain XRP’s starring role is unclear, but on March 6, the president signed an executive order to establish a federal “digital asset inventory” in response to the concept of reserves that sparked an uproar, but with a big difference: strategic reserves are purchased BTC and Hold. Crypto reserves are held or sold only.
At press time, XRP was trading at $2.29.