There is certainly an argument that few Presidents of the United States of America have been as divisive or controversial as Donald Trump. Elected in 2016, the 45th President was in office between January 2017 and the same month four years later. When he was defeated in 2021, he refused to concede and claimed that there had been electoral fraud, attempting to overturn the result and mounting unsuccessful legal challenges. He was also seen as being largely responsible for the attack on the United States Capitol on the 6th of January, 2021, which was part of his ‘seven-part plan‘ to overturn the election.
Whilst unquestionable a controversial figure, ‘The Donald’, as he is known to some, also had an incredibly loyal following. His followers loved him in spite of the fact that he was the only US President to be impeached twice, to say nothing of the fact that he was indicted by a grand jury in Manhattan on 34 felony charges and 40 charges by a Miami grand jury. It is the loyal following that helps to explain the decision to launch not one but two NFT collections, displaying the former President in all sorts of different guises, from Napoleon-esque to a BBQ-er with a dog at his feet.
The Former President
The son of Fred Trump and Mary Anne MacLeod, Donald Trump was born on the 14th of June, 1946. He was their fourth child, born at Jamaica Hospital in Queens and later attended the private school of Kew-Forest. He was enrolled at the New York Military Academy at the age of 13 and in 1964 enrolled at Fordham University. He got several deferments that saved him from serving in the military during the Vietnam War and in 1982 he made it onto the Forbes list of wealthy people on account of the dart that he had a share of his family’s fortune, worth around $600 million in today’s money.
His tax returns between 1985 and 1994 show losses of $1.17 billion, which were higher than almost every other American tax payer. Having began his own career as a real estate developer, he truly began to make it into the consciousnesses of Americans when he released his first book, The Art of the Deal in 1987, which became a New York Times Best Seller. He made occasional appearances in films and TV shows, hosting The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice between 2004 and 2015. It was his move into politics that really saw him hit the limelight, however.
He had been a member of numerous political parties over the years, registering as a Republican in 1987, the Reform Party in 1999, the Democratic Party in 2001 and then a Republican again. It was as a Republican that he ran for the Presidency, being seen as something of a joke by many. Despite losing the popular vote, he won the Presidency when he defeated Hilary Clinton in 2016 Presidential election, with his time in office considered to be one of the worst Presidencies in the history of the United States of America by many scholars and historians.
Entering the World of NFTs
In December of 2022, Donald Trump used his account on the social media platform Truth Social to tease a ‘major announcement’. Later in the month it was confirmed that that announcement was the launch of some non-fungible tokens, with the trading cards being sold at $99 each. He had said on his account that ‘American needs a superhero‘, which was a reference to the fact that many of the NFTs were mockups of the former President as a superhero. Some were him dressed in hunting gear, others were of him playing golf or stood in front of a ‘Trumpworld’ sign.
The cards sold out in less than a day, generating more than $4 million in sales, of which the man himself received between $100,000 and $1 million. The success of the cards led the former President to release a second batch, which also retailed for $99 and this time showed him in situations such as being a golden chess piece, on a motorbike with an electric guitar and appearing to be like Elvis, complete with leather pants. There were also some special offers for those that wanted to buy a bulk amount of the NFTs featuring former-President Trump’s likeness.
Those buying the NFTs with a credit card were able to buy a maximum of 47, which also saw them get a ticket to attend a Gala Dinner at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s official residence. Those buying with cryptocurrency, meanwhile, could buy as many as 100 and would get a one-of-a-kind NFT as a result. There were 45,000 Trump Digital Trading Cards released in Series 1, with 44,000 of them being made available for sale. There were then 47,000 of them minted for Series 2, with the constant reference to 47 being because he hoped to be the 47th President, with 46,000 made available for sale.
Why Buy One
The obvious question that you might ask is why you might choose to by a Donald Trump NFT. The main reason would be to have one for your own collection, with the entire point of them being for personal individual enjoyment. Unlike other fan art of the former President, the Digital Trading Cards are the only authorised ones created. Some of them were ‘one-of-ones’, whilst the rest were never more than 10 in number. The Trump Digital Trading Cards are minted on the Polygon blockchain, meaning that anyone can sell or trade them on platforms that work with Polygon.
Those that collect NFTs in general will obviously be interested in adding one of a former President to their collection, however disgraced he may be. There are even some of the cards that have been digitally hand-signed by Donald Trump himself. Those that love the 45th President of the United States will obviously want to contribute towards his personal coffers whilst also getting a digital collectible that depicts him in a unique circumstance. There is also the fact that they could be bought or sold, even if the world of NFT trading is a particularly volatile one.
