Ripple’s Brad Garlinghouse Confirms Mar-a-Lago Meeting with Trump—Was XRP Discussed?

• Following a landmark legal victory against the SEC, Ripple is refocusing on U.S. expansion, with three-quarters of recent hires based domestically.
• Ripple’s advancements coincide with growing political engagement in the crypto space, including pro-crypto Senator Cynthia Lummis’ discussions with upcoming SEC leadership.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse recently announced that he had dinner with former U.S. President Donald Trump and the firm’s Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty. The meeting was held at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate and was announced through Garlinghouse’s post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse Meets Donald Trump

He wrote, “Great dinner last night with Donald Trump & Stuart Alderoty. Great start to 2025!” This revelation hints at positive developments for the blockchain company, spurring optimism in the crypto community. Stuart Alderoty, general counsel for Ripple, described the dinner: “To top it off, the beef bourguignon was really good.”

It’s worth noting that the meeting comes at a crucial period for Ripple when the company was slowly picking momentum following an arduous lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The recent court victories seem to strengthen the company’s grounds in the world of cryptocurrencies. Hence, experts are positive in predicting XRP price’s performance going forward. In some instances, experts were optimistic about XRP touching $3 soon, per the CNF report.

This high-profile meeting was led by Ripple after the victory in its long-running legal case against the SEC. The firm and its executives faced accusations of selling unregistered securities through XRP transactions. Eventually, after more than two years of litigation, Ripple came out with a victory. Many regard the case as a landmark for the cryptocurrency industry.

Pro-XRP attorney John E. Deaton, who followed the case closely, commented on X about the legal proceedings. Deaton pointed out that Ripple was transparent during the case, stating that every XRP transaction was disclosed. He also criticized the SEC for its handling of the discovery process, describing their actions as misconduct. Despite these challenges, Ripple has strengthened its position, and observers expect further advancements for the company.

XRP Firm’s Major Domestic Expansion

CEO Brad Garlinghouse has also pointed out that Ripple is refocusing on the U.S. market. He says that the company has moved a lot of its activities back to the United States. He pointed out that three-quarters of Ripple’s new hires are based in the United States, which is a far cry from the company’s previous international focus. Ripple also signed more U.S. business deals in the last six weeks of 2024 than it did in the preceding six months following Donald Trump’s victory, per the CNF report.

Meanwhile, Ripple is expanding its influence in the blockchain sector. Recently, the president of the company, Monica Long, announced that the newly released stablecoin, RLUSD, will be listed on various platforms. Another development is Ripple’s partnership with Chainlink for secure pricing in the RLUSD within the DeFi ecosystem, reported CNF.

The dinner at Mar-a-Lago is one of multiple recent interactions between crypto leaders and the political world. For context, pro-crypto U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis has been hosting Paul Atkins for a while.  Atkins is believed to be the potential next chairman of the Securities and Exchanges Commission as nominated by President-elect Trump. The discussions between Atkins and Lummis point to rule reform at the SEC and how best to advance the adoption of digital assets.