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Like President Donald Trump was sworn into office as the 47th president of the United States on Monday, grifters and opportunists they were already looking to cash in on the new Trump era, including the president himself.
A few days before he took office, Trump launched a memecoin called $TRUMP to “celebrate our victory and have fun”, warning that “it was not intended to be … an investment opportunity”. Trump announced the launch in X and Truth Social, with many wondering if the accounts of the president had been hacked.
However, within hours, thousands had invested in the cryptocurrency. The sale was so successful which, at billion dollars, represented almost 90 percent of Trump’s overall wealth. However, like many memecoins, the price of the $TRUMP coin fluctuated wildly and dropped significantly on Sunday, with the price drop continuing on Monday.
At the time he was sworn in as president on Monday, the $TRUMP memecoin was worth just shy of $50 billion, with Trump keeping 80 percent of the coins. The coin, which is built on the Solana blockchain, allows anyone anywhere in the world to funnel money directly to the President of the United States.
First Lady Melania Trump also launched her own memecoin on Sunday, and while it didn’t reach the level of Trump’s memecoin, the $MELANIA coin it was worth nearly $8 billion on Monday.
The president and first lady were far from the only ones trying to cash in on the buzz around Trump’s second term, and especially the inauguration weekend. Since his first term in office, Trump has been a magnet for all kinds of grifts and cash grabs, many of them approved by the president himself, and including everything from guitars and shoes to cards and coins.
Religion was also on the table. Lee Greenwood, a country singer, said Sunday that Trump could use a special edition “God bless the USA.” for his oath – the same bible that the singer has been selling with Trump since last March.
The “Opening Day Edition Bible” has been on sale on Greenwood’s website — alongside pink and camo versions of the Bible — for $70 for the past week, but ‘ and Trump took office on Monday, the Bible seemed to have already been sold.
A number of other commemorative items are for sale, ranging from dozens of “Inauguration Day” t-shirts and hats sold on platforms like Amazon and Etsy to a special “Inauguration Edition” roast from Victory Coffee. A Texas-based jeweler is also offering to gift the president an 8-carat diamond in the shape of his head in what appears to be a marketing bid.
And because Trump’s inauguration was moved indoors due to severe cold weather, tens of thousands of people who had been sent tickets to attend the event were unable to use them. People tried to cash in on those tickets, with dozens of listings on eBay offering unused tickets for up to $200 each. The tickets were distributed free of charge by members of the House of Representatives and feature a hologram and the signature of the representative whose office issued them. Many of the listings have already been sold, with some sellers offering multiple tickets.
A specific website offering commemorative inaugural tickets has also been created, with some tickets being offered for as much as $900. It is unclear who is behind the page, but the site is ranked as the second result in a Google search for “commemorative inauguration tickets”.
Grifting and cash grabs in Trumpworld are nothing new. Since Trump came to office in 2016, he and his sympathetic supporters have embraced a wide variety of schemes. With Trump’s support, many figures have made entire careers in grifting topics like stolen elections o The denial of COVID.
