Hours after Trump posted a message at Truth Social on March 2 that he "will advance strategic cryptocurrency reserves including XRP, SOL, and ADA", Trump felt fooled, was furious, and ordered Brian Ballard to be placed on the White House "blacklist". At the time, Trump was participating in a donation drive at Mar-a-Lago, and an employee of Ballard Partners, a well-known lobbying organization, lobbied the president in person several times, urging Trump to publicly express his support for the crypto industry. The speaker not only delivered the prepared speech template to Trump in person, but also repeatedly emphasized the importance of promoting the industry. Trump later realized that the company behind the XRP mentioned in the tweet, Ripple Labs, was a client of Ballard Partners. Ballard Partners, a lobbying firm run by Brian Ballard, an American political lobbyist known for his close ties to Trump, was once considered an "insider" in the Trump administration. Within minutes of the president's post, David Sacks, the White House director of cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence, was furious and immediately called his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, to protest. Trump also bluntly stated in internal meetings that Ballard "never wants to get involved in anything again". White House staff were instructed not to meet with Brian Ballard. Despite being blocked internally, Ballard still received invitations to Trump fundraisers and successfully arranged for NFL executives to meet with the president, evidence that Ballard has not cut ties with the White House.
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