Trump Says NFTs Were About Art, Not Money – ARTnews.com

Former President Donald Trump, riding high on the tail of an NFT crash earlier this month that saw 45,000 digital “trading cards” sold out in just hours, told OAN last week that the fundraiser was not about money. It was about the art.

And, of course, his image.

“Well, I knew nothing about [NFTs] and then a group came and I loved the art. They showed me the art, said the former president. “You know, it’s kind of comic book art when you think about it, but they showed me the art and I said, wow, I’ve always wanted to have a 30-inch waist.”

In the dignified manner of art lovers, Trump added, “wow, that’s kind of sweet, that might sell, that might sell.” They thought it would sell in six months, it sold in six hours.”

Originally set at $99 a pop, the tough guy-cum-action figures with NFTs flew off the blockchain shelves and sold out in about 12 hours. The collection is currently worth 7,629 ETH, according to NFT platform OpenSea. At today’s exchange rate, it is around 9.42 million dollars, although the price has fluctuated.

Not all Trump supporters were happy with the fall. Trump built up the release in typical bombast, teasing a “big announcement” that some believed would reveal his 2024 presidential candidacy.

Steve Bannon, a former Trump adviser, scoffed at the announcement of his War room podcast, saying those responsible “should be fired” for overshadowing Trump’s plans to “fight left-wing censorship” if he wins back the White House. Daniel Bostica former conservative congressional aide said the announcement was “a slap in the face to Trump’s base.”

Controversy has swirled around the NFTs since they were released. In accordance New York‘s intelligences, there have been allegations that some of the images were swiped from copyrighted work from Amazon, DNW outdoors, Wearhouse for menand Shutterstock. In one picture is Adobe watermark seems to lurk in the sky behind a wryly winking Trump.

Among the highlights of the Trump NFT collection available on OpenSea: a flashing Trump, wearing boxing gloves and a USA cap, under a shower of Trump-branded gold bars (.200 ETH), and Trump, with an 8-bit head, which gives a raised-first salute in front of an aggressively blurred cityscape (.230 ETH).