TikTok Hits Back at Claims of Buying Trump Memecoin

TikTok says claims that its Chinese owners are buying the “Official Trump” (TRUMP) memecoin are not true.

The company replied on X (formerly Twitter), calling U.S. Congressman Brad Sherman’s accusations false and misleading.

Sherman had said that TikTok’s owners planned to spend $300 million on Trump Coin. However, TikTok said this isn’t true and even pointed out that Sherman’s own past statements don’t support the claim.

The confusion may have come from GD Culture Group, a Nasdaq-listed company that creates AI content on TikTok. In May, GD Culture announced plans to buy $300 million worth of Trump memecoin and Bitcoin. But the company has no official ties to TikTok or its parent company ByteDance.

This comes as Trump delays the TikTok ban for a third time, giving the company 90 more days to find a U.S. buyer. Sherman criticized this move and called the alleged coin purchase a “$300 million bribe” going straight to Trump.

Backlash Over Sherman’s Trump Coin Claims

Some online users questioned TikTok’s denial, but many pushed back against Congressman Sherman’s claims, saying they weren’t credible.

Others pointed out that creating a cryptocurrency isn’t free, challenging Sherman’s statement that Trump made “Trump Coins” at no cost.

One commenter went further, accusing Sherman of pushing an agenda, saying, “No one wants TikTok banned except the Israeli lobby, your puppet masters. Why not ask your voters what they really think?”

Sherman has been openly anti-crypto for years. In 2019, he even called for a full ban on cryptocurrencies, warning they could weaken the U.S. dollar.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has taken the opposite view—supporting crypto, especially stablecoins tied to the U.S. dollar, as part of a strategy to protect the dollar’s global power.