Donald Trump's mugshot NFTs may be the year's biggest design crime

NFTs were so 2022, but some have persevered despite the bubble bursting. And the former US president Donald Trump is among them. Following the 'amazing success' (I'm imagining Trump's own take on it here) of two initial series of badly photoshopped Trump digital trading cards, we're being treated to another drop. And, almost impossibly, the new Trump NFTs are even worse than the previous designs.

Billed as a special 'mugshot edition', the cards feature images of the former president as a cyborg, a samurai warrior, dethroning Abraham Lincoln on the Lincoln memorial, throwing lightning bolts and and breaking the shackles that bind him. "Enjoy the art," the initiative's official X account says.

When Donald Trump's mugshot was taken in August it was for alleged election racketeering, but perhaps it could also have been for crimes against design. The Trump NFT collection features 100,000 trading cards, which are "Just Like Baseball Cards, But You Collect Them Digitally!" (and you pay $99 for each one). For the first time, some come with physical cards. And some of the new NFTs are one-offs (which the website clarifies means that they "the only one in the world"). 

The designs don't actually use Trump's mugshot, which seems like a missed opportunity. However, there is a special offer for those who buy 47 or more (there are really 47 different designs?). They will receive a "Piece Of The President's ACTUAL Suit From His Famous Mugshot" stuck to a physical copy of one of the cards. 

In an ad that uses Bubblegum Sans Pro as a classy alternative to Comic Sans, the suit in question is being billed as "The Most Historically Significant Artifact in United States History". That whole gaudy mess along with the cringeworthy collages on the cards themselves may the earn project the title of worst design crime of the year. All the same, fans seem to be buying, judging by the reactions on X.

The cards are produced by a company called NFT INT LLC, which uses Donald Trump's name, likeness and image under paid license from CIC Digital. People have raised concerns in the past about the inability to immediately trade the cards and about their low worth since so many of them have been made. This time around, the CollectTrumpCards X account has clarified that "Trump Digital Trading Cards (NFTs) are intended as collectible items for individual enjoyment only, not for investment purposes."

Still wondering what an NFT actually is? See our guides to what are NFTs and how to make and sell and NFT.