In mid-December 2022, Donald Trump teased a “big announcement.” His followers on Truth Social, where the teaser was posted, speculated wildly, with many guessing that it would be the former president announcing key details for his 2024 presidential campaign.
On December 15, 2022, Donald Trump made his big reveal: Trump NFTs.
The announcement shocked and confused even Trump’s most ardent fans and has been ridiculed almost everywhere — but they sold out within 12 hours and could have raised more than $4 million for Trump’s personal coffers.
So, what are Trump’s NFTs and why should you care?
What is Donald Trump’s digital trading card?
One of the first things to note is that Trump’s announcements never used the word “NFT.” It is also not mentioned on the website, with all wording centered on “Digital Trading Cards” instead. The connection to the random, notorious world of NFTs is avoided, despite the fact that they are clearly NFTs built on the Polygon blockchain.
Donald Trump’s digital trading card collection includes 45,000 NFTs, with all images related to Donald Trump in one way or another. Like many NFT collections, the images reuse certain elements across each image. For example, some photos show Trump in a trademark MAGA hat, doing his “You’re Fired” pose, holding a shotgun in military fatigues, and so on, on different backgrounds, color schemes, and more.
Rarity is a key part of any NFT collection, and the Trump collection is no different.
Why has Donald Trump released an NFT collection?
There are a few other important details surrounding the Trump NFT collection. First, while there is understandable speculation that the NFT collection is an underhand method of campaign finance, the Digital Trading Card website includes a disclaimer that separates Trump’s NFTs from “any political campaign.”
Second, while this NFT collection is about Donald Trump, and he has undoubtedly been involved in its creation and development, a big part of Trump’s business plan is licensing the name. In this case, the Trump name is licensed to a company called NFT INT LLC, which is not owned by Trump.
Now, that’s the third consideration. While Donald Trump may not directly profit from the NFT sales, and those funds may not go into his campaign coffers, his name licenses the project well. Not that there is anything illegal or weird about it; that’s how the Trump Organization has operated for decades.
Who profits from Trump NFTs, then?
45,000 NFTs sold at $99 each (note the symbolic number of NFTs by the way) equates to a cool $4.45 million. But if the Trump Organization isn’t shelling out the funds, who is?
All sales go to NFT INT LLC. Furthermore, every time a Donald Trump Digital Trading Card is sold, the company pocketes ten percent of the sale. At the time of writing, there has apparently been 663 ETH trading activity on Open Sea, one of the most popular NFT marketplaces. 663 ETH is equivalent to $846,000, which means that NFT INT LLC has already earned another $84,600, with ongoing trading and prices that seem to be rising.
On that, part of the disdain for the Trump NFT collection is timing. The NFT market is dormant and has been for several months. It’s a far cry from the dizzying, insatiable NFT market of early 2022, that’s for sure.
Still, Trump’s digital trading card sold out within 12 hours, something not seen in the NFT market for some time.
Who is Donald Trump’s digital trading card for?
Understandably, the target market for Donald Trump NFTs is Donald Trump supporters. That said, feedback among Trump supporters has been mixed, to say the least.
However, each Trump NFT purchased was entered into a contest for various extra prizes, including a gala, a Zoom call with Trump, dinner in Miami, cocktails at Mar-a-Lago and more.
However, they have caught on in the wider NFT community. At least they have with some users noting that the former president pays more attention to NFTs than almost any other individual could.
Some NFT advocates who want to push the technology forward see Trump’s involvement in NFTs as a net positive for space—even if the Trump NFT announcement looks like a revealing infomercial.
Furthermore, for many, NFTs are just another commodity to trade, exchange and negotiate. Each Trump Digital Trading Card was priced at $99, but they are already selling for more than that on Open Sea. How much of that is NFT wash trading we don’t know, but if there is money to be made trading Trump NFTs, you bet people will do it.
Trump NFTs breathe life into the faltering market
The Donald Trump Digital Trading Card NFT collection has clearly captured the imagination of users worldwide. Whether the bulk of the buyers were NFT speculators and traders is not clear, but any NFT collection that sells out after 12 hours is an impressive effort.
Whether Trump NFTs hold their value after a few months is another matter. With very few NFTs having any value after their moment in the sun wanes, one would speculatively say that’s unlikely – but much stranger things have happened.
