Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox
Get our free Inside Washington email
Donald Trump has once again found himself at the centre of Saturday Night Live’s merciless mockery – this time over his $99 digital trading cards.
In its cold open on 17 December, the NBC programme roasted Mr Trump’s “major announcement” days earlier. While many had speculated that the announcement would be related to his 2024 campaign – such as the reveal of a running mate – it turned out to be far less remarkable: NFT trading cards portraying Mr Trump as a superhero.
SNL’s James Austin Johnson appeared as Mr Trump with a Christmas announcement in defence of the marketing scheme.
“Seems like a lot, seems like a scam – and in many ways it is,” Mr Johnson said. “But we love the Trump cards. We just love them. You can also get them for free by just going online and looking at them, maybe, I don’t know. Maybe taking a screenshot, but we would really prefer it if you sent the $99.”
Referencing the Mar-a-Lago raid earlier this year during which classified documents were found, Mr Johnson said those who bought the cards could win an “exclusive mystery prize” picked from a box marked “classified”.
Donald Trump Jr, played by Mikey Day, then took the stage to say that the trading cards were a “totally legit product”.
“These cards are fantastic and a steal,” he said.
Weekend Update host Colin Jost also joked about the NFT trading cards during the programme.
“Semi-retired maniac Donald Trump has launched a collection of digital NFT trading cards depicting him in various costumes including cowboy, superhero and, most unbelievably, the guy who didn’t dodge the draft,” he said. “I’m honestly just relieved he is wearing an American military uniform.”
Mr Jost noted that the decision to sell NFTs was odd because of their less-than-stellar performance in the market. He also mentioned the former president’s meeting with Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, as well as white supremacist Nick Fuentes.
“It is such a funny move to get into NFTs now after the whole market just crashed. It’s like getting into Kanye now, which Trump also kind of did,” Mr Jost said.
Mr Trump’s NFT announcement has also been criticized by Trump allies, such as former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, who said he “can’t do this anymore”.
Mr Bannon said “nobody even talked” about Mr Trump’s policies on fighting against what he called the “left-wing censorship regime” if he wins the 2024 election after the announcement regarding the NFTs.
The chairman of the San Francisco Republican Party John Dennis tweeted about the trading cards: “I like Trump. This is not a good idea. Whoever advised Trump to sell NFTs shouldn’t be fired. They should be exiled”.
Mr Trump later took to Truth Social to boast about the sales, saying “we made history. My Trump Digital Trading Cards sold out in hours. Congratulations to the collectors. Thank you”.
By Sunday morning, the price for the NFTs had skyrocketed to 0.57 Ethereum, a cryptocurrency, on the trading site OpenSea, Newsweek noted. That’s around $675.