Former President Donald Trump on Thursday made what he called a "major announcement," with what turned out to be the launch of $99 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that featured fictionalized artwork of himself.
News of the NFTs has led to some criticism of Trump on Twitter, including by multiple users of the social media platform who have referenced an interview from last December of Trump calling cryptocurrency "dangerous."
Though NFTs can't be exchanged or traded like cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum, the tokens are still considered cryptographic assets since they are created using the same type of blockchain technology programming. In recent years, the market for NFTs has expanded greatly, with digital artwork becoming one of the most popular forms of the tokens.
Among the depictions in the Trump NFTs are images of the former president reimagined as a cowboy, an astronaut, a fighter pilot and a superhero in a wrestling ring.
In the video announcement of the NFTs, Trump said he was "better" than former Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and added that his "digital trading card collection" can be purchased with a credit card or cryptocurrency.
Trump has not seemingly always been so keen on crypto. Speaking on Fox News with Maria Bartiromo last year, he indicated he was not a fan of the digital currency and even offered a warning about it.
"I never loved it [cryptocurrency], because I like to have the dollar. I think the currency should be the dollar. So it was never a big fan, but it's building up bigger and bigger and nobody's doing anything about it," Trump said. "I know it so well. I want a currency called the dollar. I don't want to have all these others, and that could be an explosion someday, the likes of which we've never seen. It'll make the big tech explosion look like like baby stuff. I think it's a very dangerous thing."
Multiple Twitter users have referenced Trump's talk with Bartiromo since his NFT launch. Altcoin Daily, a cryptocurrency news and analysis outlet which maintains a popular YouTube channel, posted a clip of the Fox News interview, along with Trump's NFT video announcement.
"Donald Trumps in 2021: Crypto is dangerous. It can be an explosion like we have never seen before. Donald Trump in 2022: I'm doing my first official NFT collection," Altcoin Daily wrote as the caption for its tweet.
Donald Trumps in 2021: Crypto is dangerous. It can be an explosion like we have never seen before.
— Altcoin Daily (@AltcoinDailyio) December 15, 2022
Donald Trump in 2022: I'm doing my first official NFT collection. pic.twitter.com/lHRxWUYNqw
Newsweek reached out to Trump for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Jon Jackson is an Associate Editor at Newsweek based in New York. His focus is on reporting on the Ukraine ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
