Former US president Donald Trump announced the launch of his new "Donald Trump Trading Cards" NFTs (non-fungible tokens) on Thursday, in a video depicting the former president as a cartoon superhero shooting lasers out of his eyes while in a superhero costume ripping out from under his suit.
The cards, which Trump described as "baseball cards, but hopefully much more exciting," will cost $99 each.
The video was initially launched on Trump's 'Truth' social platform, stating that 'America needs a superhero' with dramatic music playing in the background, followed by the promise of a major announcement to be made on Thursday.
This isn't the first time Trump has borrowed from pop culture in order to promote various issues, in April 2019, he tweeted a video on Twitter promoting his re-election campaign set to the score of the film "The Dark Knight Rises," the tweet has since been removed from the platform.Oh my goodness Trump’s “major announcement” is even more pathetic than I anticipated pic.twitter.com/5IzjklP7Fo
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 15, 2022
In 2018, a tweet most likely aimed at Iran featured Trump with the words "sanctions are coming" laid out on the image in a style reminiscent of HBO's hit show "Game of Thrones." Trump's team had announced prior to the publication of the image that all sanctions that were lifted from Iran under the 2015 nuclear deal, which he pulled out of in May of that year, would be reimposed.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 2, 2018
Trump announced his third consecutive presidential campaign
On November 15, Trump announced his third presidential campaign, although his third consecutive run has been overshadowed by a series of controversies and backlash, even from within the Republican Party, and so far has failed to recapture the same media trends of his first candidacy in 2015 and 2016.
A difficult re-election campaign
Trump has yet to hold a campaign rally since announcing his run in November, raising speculation that the upcoming announcement could provide an update on his plans going forward and a means to re-connect with voters.
Trump’s announcement comes in the background of recent polls, which show that the former president faces a significant potential challenge from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in a potential head-to-head primary.
86% of Republicans who say they are likely to vote in a primary or nominating contest view DeSantis favorably, while only 74% view Trump favorably, according to a Wall Street Journal poll.