Donald Trump on Wednesday became the first U.S. president to make a crypto transaction in public, paying off his tab at a New York City bar that accepts the digital currency. Calling it "very easy" to do, Trump used Bitcoin to pay for the burgers and drinks he'd purchased for the patrons at PubKey in Manhattan.
Trump's campaign stop at PubKey came just days after the former (and hopefully future) president embraced World Liberty Financial, a new crypto venture from New York real estate mogul Steve Witkoff and Trump's sons, Donald Jr. and Eric.
“Crypto is one of those things we have to do,” Trump said on an X "spaces" during the WLF rollout. “Whether we like it or not, I have to do it.”
Bill Whittle, Scott Ott, and I spent a few minutes during Tuesday's "Right Angle" taping trying to suss out exactly what Trump meant by that but without any luck. For a guy whose endorsements usually RING, BABY, “Whether we like it or not, I have to do it," came across to us as strangely forced.
But that's hardly the point. A once-and-future president fully embracing crypto has the chance to become a Very Big Deal.
While some find that the Trump family's campaign ventures into things like crypto and non-fungible token (NFT) trading cards a bit tawdry or even a "potential ethics headache," there certainly seems to be a covert political maneuver behind Trump's embrace of crypto. But it's little appreciated that unlike any other president I can think of during my lifetime, Trump actually lost net worth while in office.
Harry Truman famously said, "Show me a man that gets rich by being a politician, and I'll show you a crook." Trump got less rich during his four years in office. I wonder what Truman would have made of that.
So why is Trump taking the "highly unusual" step of launching a new business venture "designed to benefit himself and his family" so close to election day?
In a word: votes. Specifically, I think Trump is making a bold play for technologists and tech-minded libertarians who ordinarily wouldn't even dream of voting for him.
Anointed Democrat nominee Kamala Harris is a "blank slate" on crypto, according to Shark Tank investor Kevin O'Leary, like she is on so many other issues. "She has no track record at all, which is probably in some ways a benefit for her," O'Leary said. "She's got a blank slate. She can start bringing policy in any way she wishes."
Other crypto investors don't see Harris's flexibility as a plus for them. "U.S. cryptocurrency shares fell in early trading on Wednesday after Democratic candidate Kamala Harris put her Republican rival and crypto supporter Donald Trump on the defensive in a combative presidential debate," Reuters reported last week.
Trump, on the other hand, already has one tech bro on board — Vivek Ramaswamy, who last year made himself the only GOP presidential candidate with a crypto policy plan. "What we're going to have is rescinding any of those regulations that are allowing the regulatory state to go after perfectly legal behavior, but by claiming that somehow it shouldn't exist because they don't like it," Ramaswamy said at the time. "All of that can end on my watch."
Whatever you think of Trump's business partners at WLF — like self-described "dirtbag of the internet,” Chase Herro — if you're a tech-savvy who's been in on crypto for years, who are you going to trust?
The candidate who has fully embraced digital currencies or the "blank slate" or can bring in policy "in any way she wishes?"
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