Trump family crypto venture lobbied for Stablecoin bill, hosted Idaho legislators at Mar-a-Lago 

BOISE (Idaho Capital Sun) — In the middle of the 2026 Idaho legislative session, a lobbyist for a Trump family crypto venture paid for three Idaho state lawmakers’ dinners at Florida restaurants to lobby for a bill related to a kind of crypto currency called “stablecoin.”

The legislators — Senate President Pro Tempore Kelly Anthon, a Declo Republican; Nampa Republican Sen. Todd Lakey; and Pocatello Republican Rep. Dustin Manwaring — attended a financial conference at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. 

World Liberty Financial, a company co-founded by Trump and his sons, reported paying $18,000 for use of a personal or chartered airplane and lodging, according to the lobbying report filed with the Secretary of State’s Office. However, the three legislators who traveled to Florida in February told the Idaho Capital Sun they paid their own way there. 

The crypto company that month paid around $450 total for meals at the Palm Beach, Florida, restaurant, Tutto Mare, and Eataly for the three legislators, according to the February lobbying report. 

Manwaring and Anthon were the bill sponsors on legislation introduced this year to allow the state government to use stablecoin. World Liberty Financial has its own stablecoin, called USD1.

The crypto venture’s lobbyist is Gregory Graf, an Idaho-based political strategist and consultant as well as a blogger on his website Political Potatoes. Graf reported spending $157 each on Anthon and Lakey at Tutto Mare on Feb. 18, according to lobbyist filings. 

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The next day, Graf reported paying between $57 and $54 each for Manwaring, Lakey and Anthon at Eataly, a parent company that owns numerous Italian restaurants, including in Palm Beach. Graf declined to comment for this story. 

Palm Beach is also home to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, where Donald Trump Jr. and his brother Eric Trump were hosting “World Liberty Forum,” an event to discuss finance and technology, NPR reported. 

Anthon, Manwaring and Lakey told the Sun that World Liberty Financial did not pay to fly them to Florida nor did they cover their lodging. 

Anthon said all his expenses were covered by himself, his campaign or his political action committee. 

“I was honored to be asked to attend a meeting about the future of financial payment systems in the United States at Mar-a-Lago,” Anthon told the Sun in a text. “I think it is an important issue.” 

Lakey said it was a “quick trip” to the one-day conference. He said he paid his own commercial flights and there was a hotel group rate for the conference, but his stay was not covered by the crypto company. 

“It was a great experience,” Lakey said in a voicemail. 

What were the bills?

World Liberty Financial reported lobbying on House Bills 586 and 821, two versions of legislation that would authorize the state to use a type of cryptocurrency called stablecoin, which has values tied to more traditional currency, like the U.S. dollar. 

The bill would also create a regulatory framework for the use of stablecoin. 

The proposed state legislation largely follows the federal “GENIUS Act,” signed into law in July, allowing states to create their own regulatory framework for the particular type of cryptocurrency. 

Manwaring told the Sun in an email that he’d been involved in the legislation since Congress approved the federal law. The Pocatello Republican has sponsored multiple bills regarding cryptocurrency. 

“I have been at the forefront of policy around digital assets and regulations surrounding cryptocurrency and stablecoin for over six years,” he said.

Manwaring said he didn’t draft the bill to benefit any particular crypto company. 

“I specifically drafted legislation that was agnostic to any particular company or stablecoin as long as it had sufficient operational scale in aggregate transaction volume,” Manwaring said. “I also added the use of public purpose stablecoin to the bill, meaning any public entity stablecoin like Wyoming’s ‘Frontier Stable Token,’ or South Dakota’s ‘Roughrider Coin,’ to allow Idaho to work with other state issued stablecoins.” 

Neither of the House bills advanced. Anthon, the Senate leader, on March 23 introduced Senate Bill 1423, which was similar to the House versions. The Idaho Senate passed SB 1423 on March 27 in a 22-13 vote. 

The bill never came up in the House for a hearing. 

Anthon and Manwaring expressed desire to continue to work on a bill to legislative stablecoin. 

“Idaho will need to continue the dialogue on the use of stablecoin for more efficient payments,” Anthon said. “Stablecoin will help to prevent delay and transaction costs. I was disappointed the legislation did not get further this year.” 

Manwaring said the effort “made great progress” to educate legislators about the cryptocurrency. 

“There is a lot of misunderstanding surrounding stablecoin and how it is different from speculative cryptocurrency and maintains a stable value tied to the dollar and is highly efficient for payments and remittances,” Manwaring said. “Idaho taxpayers and those doing business with the state could benefit significantly in time and cost savings through the use of stablecoin for payments.”

Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com.