Trump Got Played: How a Ripple-Ballard Connection Tricked Him Into Shilling XRP
Another day, another crypto grift—only this time, it dragged a former president into the fray. Sources claim Donald Trump was unwittingly used to promote XRP through ties between ex-CIA officer Phil Ballard and Ripple execs. The playbook? Classic political-crypto opportunism.
How the Grift Worked
Ballard, a Trump ally, allegedly leveraged access to push XRP as a ’patriotic’ asset. No surprise—the usual suspects cheered while retail traders got left holding the bag. Ripple’s ongoing SEC lawsuit? Just a minor detail.
Wall Street’s Take: ‘Peak Crypto’
Bankers are laughing (again). Another ‘disruptive’ crypto project relying on celebrity clout instead of, say, actual utility. Meanwhile, XRP’s price twitched—because nothing pumps a coin like political theater.
Bombshell Allegations Around Trump and XRP
Before the 2024 elections, President Trump campaigned on establishing a US Bitcoin Reserve, surprising the crypto industry when he included several altcoins in his proposal.
When TRUMP made a social media post a month into the office, it included SOL, ADA, and XRP in the mix, boosting the notoriety of these assets. Today, Politico made shocking allegations suggesting that this was not his intention.
Specifically, the report alleged that Brian Ballard, a lobbyist who has worked with Trump for years, used underhanded tactics. One of Ballard’s employees repeatedly petitioned Trump to endorse XRP and other altcoins in his post.
Most notably, Ripple Labs is also a Ballard client, which paid the lobbyist $60,000 last year. When the President discovered this, he apparently raged.
Meanwhile, the US president has now exiled Brian Ballard. The community reacted strongly to these events, suggesting Trump might remove XRP and other altcoins from the Strategic Reserve. However, this may be overstated for a few reasons.
Trump was allegedly angry over being misled, not because he had a specific distaste for XRP. The Reserve announcement occurred shortly before Trump’s crypto Summit, and David Sacks worried about perceived favoritism. Nonetheless, Ripple has been a good friend to the President.
President Trump exiled a top lobbyist for promoting Ripple’s XRP.
The Strategic Reserve is buy-only BTC and hold.
The Crypto Stockpile is sell-only and maybe hold.
Bitcoin maximalism is ascendant. pic.twitter.com/4YA2UOfxMZ
Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple’s CEO, vocally supports Trump’s crypto policies. He donated millions to the President’s Inauguration and has continued maintaining this relationship.
In other words, why WOULD Trump decide to punish XRP for Ballard’s actions? These allegations are indeed shocking, but the market evidently doesn’t expect turmoil for XRP at this time.
To be clear, neither Trump, Ballard, nor Ripple employees have responded to these allegations. Regarding XRP’s place in the Reserve, Trump may simply let bygones be bygones.
It’s important to understand that while the US president signed an executive order to ‘assess the establishment’ of a strategic crypto reserve, no developments have been made yet.
