Something very strange is going on with former First Lady Melania Trump, and it’s setting off speculation that she’s trying to cash in on what little celebrity cache she still has left before her name fades into complete irrelevance.
A couple of weeks ago, Melania announced she was offering up a non-fungible token (NFT) piece of artwork featuring her eyes, as USA Today reported:
Former first lady Melania Trump announced on Thursday that she will begin selling NFTs, or nonfungible tokens, becoming the latest personality to embrace the hot digital collectible trend.
“I am proud to announce my new NFT endeavor, which embodies my passion for the arts, and will support my ongoing commitment to children through my Be Best initiative,” she said in a Thursday statement shared on social media.
Trump confirmed in the statement that she is starting a platform that will “release NFTs in regular intervals.”
An NFT is a piece of data verifying that you have ownership of a digital item, such as a piece of artwork. The items can also include a video clip, a tweet and more.
And now we learn that the ex-president’s wife is auctioning off a white hat she wore when French President Emmanuel Macron visited the United States in 2018:
In a statement from her office, Trump said that, in addition to the hat, the auction lot will include a watercolor by Marc-Antoine Coulon — a French artist who drew her eyes for her NFT last month — as well as what the statement defines as “an exclusive digital artwork NFT with motion.” The NFT, the second Trump has sold in less than a month, features the drawing of the hat with some animation.
The centerpiece of the auction, the custom white hat, which Trump has signed, was created for Trump by her personal stylist, Hervé Pierre, to match the $2,105 white crepe Michael Kors Collection suit Trump wore for the daytime ceremonies at the White House attended by Emmanuel Macron and Brigitte Macron.
Why the sudden rush to sell off memorabilia by Melania? Twitter users had some thoughts on the matter:
The most important question of all: How much is Melania hoping to raise with these auctions before she files for divorce?
