Donald Trump’s NFT sale is the weirdest thing on social media today – Mother Jones
Donald Trump said his followers earlier this week that America needed a superhero and promised a “big” announcement was on the way. The big reveal, it turns out, was that Trump is selling a collection of 45,000 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) — basically digital cartoons of him depicted in various poses: as a superhero, a businessman, a businessman with a basketball , etc. for $99 each.
The announcement was a disappointment, and one that raises many questions: Whose idea our this? Why pull the trigger now, months after most potential buyers have concluded that NFTs are a lousy investment? And who stands to make money?
Trump’s announcement was particularly strange for a man reportedly running for president — he declared his third bid in the Oval Office a month ago. According to the fine print of the website selling the Trump photos, the proceeds will not go to his campaign. Instead, they flow to NFT INT LLC — a company that, even according to the fine print, Trump does not own or control. It simply uses Trump’s name and likeness through a licensing agreement with another (probably Trump-affiliated) company, CIC Digital.
Neither NFT INT LLC nor CIC Digital has a noticeable footprint, either online or in the real world. Both companies were incorporated in Delaware this year, effectively shielding their ownership and management from public view. (An email to the website that sells the NFTs did not receive a response.)
The sale site claims 45,000 Trump NFTs have been created, and are selling for $99 apiece, which would net the creator — whoever that is — about $4.4 million. However, NFTs are not just art objects; they are meant to be digital assets an investor can conceivably resell at a profit. But as of Thursday afternoon, that seemed pretty unlikely.
OpenSeas.io, one of the major sites where NFTs are bought and sold, reported that about 4 percent of Trump NFTs were put up for sale there. And some did sell — about 500 as of 5 p.m. Eastern Thursday, but the average price was $105 — about the same price the original buyers paid, after fees. Also, sites like OpenSeas charge their own fees, and the project creators collect a remarkable 10 percent from each sale as a “creator fee.” So the price of each NFT has to be significantly higher than $100 for anyone other than the creator to profit.
Another odd feature of the sale is that people who buy a Trump card enter a contest that offers opportunities to attend campaign-style meet-and-greet events — like a golf outing or the chance to attend a Zoom session with Trump, at as he will take questions. By purchasing 45 of the cards ($4,455 plus fees), according to the website, the buyer gains entry to a 2,000-person gala that Trump will attend.
This would not be the Trump family’s first foray into NFTs. Last December, Melania Trump announced the launch of her own NFT line, featuring art based on her paintings. In February, it was revealed that she had purchased a whopping $185,000 of Melania Trump NFTs herself.
One of the few actual names on the NFT website is that of digital artist Clark Mitchell, who put the images together. According to Mitchell’s website — he did not respond to a request for comment — he creates digital art for celebrities and brands. Some of the illustrations on his website are work he apparently did for Hasbro related to the Star Wars franchise. His last two Instagram posts showcase art he created earlier this year for a Sylvester Stallone-themed NFT project and another NFT based on rapper Ginuwine, who was famous in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
In fact, the art Mitchell did for Ginuwine bears a strong resemblance to Trump’s NFTs.
