President Donald Trump has officially blacklisted XRP from the White House after he found himself dumped by a pro-XRP ally who have allegedly tricked Trump into including XRP as one of the currency for the country's strategic crypto reserve, according to a report by Politico.
Last March, President Trump posted on his Truth Social account proposing a strategic crypto reserve that would support certain cryptocurrencies in the sector, including XRP, SOL, and ADA.
But it was later revealed that this social media post wasn't written by Trump himself, but it was written by one of his lobbyists Brian Ballard who not only suggested the idea of a strategic crypto reserve to Trump but even wrote the entire social media post for Trump.
Only after posting the message on his social media account did Trump realise Ballard's true identity.
But little did Trump know that Ballard was actually a man with a sprawling contact book-not only was he a lobbyist for the Trump campaign, but he was also one of Ripple's clients.
Ultimately, this move was nothing less than a crypto product placement operation disguised as a political message.
When Trump realised he was tricked, he flew into a rage. Some sources close to the case even revealed that the President felt used manipulated.
For Trump, this was the ultimate breach of trust and Ballard was immediately cut off from his trusted circles. One of a close allies of the president said
"He is no longer welcomed at the White House."
This was a brutal fall for Ballard, who was colloqually known as the Trump whisperer due to his close personal and professional relationship with Donald Trump.
But the implication is more than personal-following the deception, Ballard also found his company, Ballard Partners, which had ridden the crypto-Trump wave to attract 130 clients and generate more than $14 million in revenue in the first quarter of 2025, sees his special privilege stripped.
However, the report didn't give greater insights into the implication of the entire saga on Ripple, and whether Trump would inflict the same ban on Ripple.
Some have also pointed out that a month before Trump's post of a strategic reserve, Brad Garlinghouse publicly suggested that the idea of a strategic reserve should be built on variety of cryptocurrencies, and not just on Bitcoin.
The coincidence between the two events has raised eyebrows, with many wondering if Garlinghouse has utilised the opportunity to pass a message that aligned with his own personal vision.
But with Trump's deep-rooted connection with Ripple, it also seems that it would be very difficult from Trump to completely cut ties with Ripple. Trump's affinity with Ripple started long before the announcement of XRP in the proposed crypto reserve.
The blockchain firm's legal officer, Stuart Alderoty, donated more than $300,000 to fundraising and political action committees supporting Trump in the 2024 election, and both he and CEO Brad Garlinghouse met with the then-president-elect in January and attended inauguration events.
Ripple also contributed $5 million in XRP to Trump’s inaugural fund and has been a major backer of the pro-crypto PAC Fairshake, which is poised to spend big in the 2026 midterms.
Given the complicated relationship with Ripple, it is still very unclear whether President Trump will let this slide, or will he hold this against Ripple and incur some kind of punishment on the crypto firm?
Despite the political drama, XRP’s price remained relatively stable following the news, trading at $2.23 at the time of publication, up 5% in 24 hours.
Trump continued his crypto plans and signed an executive order to create a "Digital Asset Stockpile" on March 6, roughly four days after the post.
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