There’s no denying that Donald Trump has had a diverse career, but new trading cards just released by the former president depict Trump as everything from a glossy superhero to an astronaut in full space gear.
Trump, 76, after teasing a “major announcement,” launched his own exclusive digital trading cards — which are also non-fungible tokens (NFTs) — on his Truth Social account on Thursday.
On Friday, less than 24 hours after the initial launch, the Collect Trump Cards website claimed all of the cards had sold out.
“MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT! My official Donald Trump Trading Card collection is here!” Trump wrote. “These limited edition cards feature amazing ART of my Life & Career!”
The former president likened the NFTs to “a baseball card.”
The digital trading cards cost US$99 (about $135) each. There are 45 different cards currently available, an obvious nod to Trump’s tenure as the 45th president of the U.S.
Earlier this week, Trump posted a 15-second video in which he said: “America needs a superhero.” An image of Trump with an open shirt revealing a red superhero costume with a ‘T’ on the chest then appears on screen, accompanied by laser beams shooting from Trump’s eyes.
In a new video on the official Collect Trump Cards website, Trump refers to himself as “hopefully your favourite president of all time; better than Lincoln; better than Washington.”
Several of the digitalized trading cards can be seen in the video, including ones that depict Trump as a cowboy and Trump holding up a fist in front of Mount Rushmore.
Every purchase of a trading card comes with automatic entry into a sweepstakes for “thousands of incredible prizes” and the chance to “meet the one and only #45.” According to the Collect Trump Cards website, these prizes range from a Miami dinner with Trump to a Zoom call with the former president and hand-signed memorabilia.
The sweepstakes can also be entered without purchase of a trading card via a mail-in ballot.
If someone buys all 45 trading cards — which would cost US$4,455 ($6,082) — the website claims they are “guaranteed a ticket to a dinner with the president.” It is unclear where and when this dinner will be, or how many guests would be in attendance.
The trading cards can be purchased using a credit card or cryptocurrency.
On social media, the Trump trading cards were heavily ridiculed.
Ted Lieu, a California member of the House of Representatives and a Democrat, tweeted his disdain for the cards.
“Dear MAGA folks: Hope it’s clear to you by now that Donald Trump disrespects you and thinks you are suckers,” he wrote.
Other social media users outright mocked Trump. Many speculated that Trump was “broke.”
“I think it’s something you’re going to like, you’re gonna like it a lot,” Trump said of the trading cards. He claimed the cards make “a great Christmas gift.” (There is even one specifically festive trading card of a digitalized Trump standing in a red suit jacket and Santa hat.)
The Collect Trump Cards website was sure to specify that the exclusive trading cards “are intended as collectible items for individual enjoyment only, not for investment vehicles.”