Freight Technologies Buys Trump Memecoin to Lobby Against Mexico Tariffs

In early May 2025 Javier Selgas, CEO of publicly traded logistics firm Freight Technologies (Fr8Tech), announced plans to buy up to $20 million in Trump's TRUMP memecoin for the company's treasury, explicitly framing the purchase as a way to advocate for the president to ease tariffs on US-Mexico cross-border trucking. The company had made about $2 million in actual purchases by early May.

The move stood out because it substituted a memecoin purchase for traditional lobbying, effectively using a token tied to the president's personal brand as a signal of political loyalty. Freight's stock fell more than 20% after the announcement, reflecting investor skepticism about both the strategy and the company's exposure to tariff risk.

The episode illustrates a broader pattern in which businesses affected by Trump administration trade policy sought favor by purchasing Trump-branded crypto assets rather than through conventional advocacy channels, raising questions about pay-to-play dynamics in a largely unregulated market.