YUGE
Trump's 'MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT' was a line of $99 NFT trading cards with 'no inherent monetary value'
It was billed as a "MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT" — the sort of thing anyone following a declared presidential candidate like Donald Trump might understandably interpret as a significant ramping up of a campaign that's been decidedly underwhelming as of yet. But just one day after exclaiming that "America needs a superhero" on his Truth Social account, the former president's "major announcement" turned out to be less about his political aspiration, and more a belated foray from the 76-year-old technophobe into the wild and wacky world of NFTs.
"My official Donald Trump Digital Trading Card collection is here!," Trump wrote on Truth Social, linking to a dedicated website for what he claimed were "limited edition cards [that] feature amazing ART of my Life & Career!"
In a separate video announcing the line of $99 dollar digital cards ("owner understands and agrees that NFTs have no inherent monetary value" a disclaimer on the site notes) Trump introduces himself as "hopefully your favorite president of all time, better than Lincoln, better than Washington," and adds that not only does purchasing one of his newly launched NFTs make a perfect Christmas gift, but doing so automatically enters buyers into a sweepstakes to win everything from cocktails at Mar-a-Lago to a "group zoom session with #45" or even "one of 25 incredibly rare gold Digital Trading Card (NFT), digitally signed by Donald J. Trump."
Contrary to Trump's claim that the cards "feature amazing ART of my Life & Career!," the assortment of NFTs shown on the website are largely exaggerated caricatures of the former president doing things like riding elephants, standing on the moon, or shooting lasers from his eyes.
While Donald is not the first Trump to explore NFTs — wife Melania launched her own "Melania's Vision" line more than a year ago — his "Major Announcement" comes as the digital currency ecosystem is reeling from allegations of massive fraud, and dramatically inflated worth.
The timing of Trump's NFTs, coupled with the hyperbolic buildup to their release has prompted some of even the former president's most stalwart supporters to question the wisdom of focusing on digital collectibles instead of his political future.
Indeed, despite the cards' aesthetic blurring of the lines between Trump's ventures both political and personal, the site's fine print makes clear that "these Digital Trading Cards are not political and have nothing to do with any political campaign."