Donald Trump has taken a leaf out of Haliey “Hawk Tuah Girl” Welch’s book, and while it only seemed like a matter of time, he’s officially launched his own meme coin.
The aptly named $TRUMP launched just days before he stepped back into the White House as the 47th President of the United States.
With the returning POTUS promising to push the cryptocurrency industry, it’s no coincidence that Bitcoin hit a record high of $109,071 on January 20 (coinciding with his inauguration).
Donald Trump wasn’t the only one to jump into the crypto pool, with Melania Trump’s $MELANIA also launching and actually knocking a chunk off $TRUMP’s worth.
Trump’s meme coin features the now-iconic image of him raising his fist in the air, homaging the July 2024 assassination attempt against him at a Pennsylvania rally. The image is superimposed over the motto, “FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT.”
The meme coin’s site says, “This Trump Meme celebrates a leader who doesn’t back down, no matter the odds,” but adds that it’s ‘not intended to be, or the subject of’ an investment opportunity.
Donald Trump’s net worth has soared since he launched $TRUMP (NurPhoto / Contributor / Getty)
That hasn’t stopped $TRUMP from soaring, with CoinMarketCap.com showing it hit a market capitalization of nearly $5.5 billion in a matter of hours.
This means that some 500 traders became millionaires overnight thanks to their savvy investments.
Although 200 million $TRUMP coins have been released, 800 million are set to be released over the next three years.
Trump has also seen his net worth soar since launching his meme coin, while the Trump-affiliated World Liberty Financial announced it had raised $300 million from a token sale on January 20 and was looking to issue more.
Despite some making a fortune overnight, others have called out Trump’s ownership.
Crypto venture capitalist Nick Tomaino warned: “Trump owning 80 percent and timing launch hours before inauguration is predatory and many will likely get hurt by it.”
Meme coins continue to be divisive, with Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson referring to them as ‘icky’ and UK-based meme coin trader Sam Baker saying: “It is a pure form of gambling. It is like buying a lottery ticket. But some of them are going to rise by 10,000% or 20,000%.”
Still, Trump has told his fans to ‘have fun’ with it.
This boom can largely be attributed to Trump’s pro-crypto stance, telling audiences at the Bitcoin 2024 Conference in Nashville: “We will have regulations, but from now on the rules will be written by people who love your industry, not hate your industry.” He referred to the USA as a ‘bitcoin superpower’ and wasted no time in trying to prove it.
Timing has been lucrative for Trump to launch a meme coin, but as reported by Forbes, Norman Eisen, an ethics adviser during the Obama administration, dubbed it potentially “the single worst conflict of interest in the modern history of the presidency.”
Crypto investors are warned to keep their wits about them, especially as $TRUMP and $MELANIA might boast a market cap of more than $8.5 billion but have already tumbled from a peak of $16 billion.
Featured Image Credit: CHIP SOMODEVILLA / Contributor / NurPhoto / Contributor / Getty
Over 80% of Donald Trump’s net worth is now invested in memecoin as he becomes one of the richest people on Earth
The incoming president launched $TRUMP of the eve of his inauguration
Over 80% of Donald Trump’s net worth is now invested in a meme coin.
The president-elect is due to be inaugurated back into the White House later today (January 20).
And not only is Trump embarking on his second term as president but he has also become one of the richest people on Earth.
Donald Trump has launched a new crypto called $TRUMP (Justin Chin/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
This is largely due to his own meme coin $TRUMP being launched on the eve of his inauguration.
In the last 24 hours, the Republican businessman has gained more wealth than in his entire career and his net worth now stands at around $60 billion.
This places Trump in the top 25 richest people in the entire world.
He took to social media platform Truth Social to announce his new crypto, where he wrote: “My NEW Official Trump Meme is HERE! It’s time to celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING!”
It’s certainly unusual for an incoming president to launch a cryptocurrency hours before being sworn into office but this isn’t the first association with a meme coin for the Trump administration.
Shortly after his election victory in November 2024, Trump announced that Elon Musk would be taking on the role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
While not technically a government department, DOGE is expected to act as an outside advisor where Musk has promised to slash the federal budget by trillions of dollars.
Donald Trump has launched his own meme coin (Mateusz Slodkowski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
On social media, DOGE has been associated with a meme coin by the same name, something that Musk has referenced himself on X, formerly Twitter.
Dogecoin, which was initially created as a joke, went viral in 2010 and features a design of a famous Shiba Inu dog.
Musk shared a meme of the dog on X, formerly Twitter, after pledging to make $2 trillion in cuts.
The billionaire also posted on X that ‘the merch will be [fire emojis]’.
Musk appears to strongly believe in the viability of Dogecoin as part of the US economy, arguing: “I think the flat inflation of Dogecoin, which means decreasing percentage inflation, is a feature, not a bug.”
That might mean that the 15-year-old meme isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
And with Trump’s new meme coin, the presence of cryptocurrency being used by the government could see growth in 2025.
And he isn’t the only member of the incoming First Family to have a meme coin.
The First Lady has since followed suit, announcing her own coin – $MELANIA.
Writing on X, she said: “The Official Melania Meme is live! You can buy $MELANIA now.”
The tweet was then reposted by Trump.
Featured Image Credit: Justin Chin/Bloomberg/Mateusz Slodkowski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Jake Paul is live posting to Instagram from Donald Trump’s inauguration
The YouTuber-turned-boxer is one of the biggest names to attend the event
If you’ve ever wondered what the lead up to an inauguration is like then take one look at Jake Paul’s Instagram feed, as he’s posting his movements live to the social media platform.
Many have anticipated the lead up to Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration, and now that the event has arrived it has the attention – for better or worse – of large parts of America.
While you can watch the proceedings on TV, the social media age gives us access to areas that we would otherwise not have, and the inclusion of internet stars on the guest list is a perfect platform for a look behind the curtain.
One such social media star is Jake Paul, former Vine and YouTube megastar-turned-boxer who has been one of the most vocal celebrity Trump supporters over the past year.
Last November he revealed in dramatic fashion who he was voting for in the upcoming election, declaring that while releasing the 18-minute long video makes him ‘nervous’ for his career, he is confident that his decision would help ‘save America’.
Jake Paul has shown strong support for Trump, and that has rewarded him with a ticket to the inauguration (Instagram/@jakepaul)
“I’m not concerned with Donald Trump’s character flaws or what he’s done in the past,” Paul revealed, “What I’m concerned with is how good of a president is he? Because that is his job and that is what’s going to affect the people of this nation.”
He has since made several declarations of support for the Trump campaign, including extending a ringside invitation to the president-elect for his box office fight against Mike Tyson that he eventually emerged victorious from.
This has clearly paid off for Paul though, as he’s one of the several celebrities to have been invited directly to Trump’s presidential inauguration alongside huge names like Elon Musk, Dana White, and Mark Zuckerberg.
He has taken to Instagram in the lead up to the event now, posting multiple photos and stories of the proceedings.
One photo, captioned “Inauguration going great”, shows Paul alongside his brother with former UFC champion and controversial figure Conor McGregor behind him on a bus taking them to the event. The post has garnered just under a million likes in just three hours at the time of writing.
Paul is live-posting his trip to Washington D.C. on Instagram (Instagram/@jakepaul)
Alongside this, Paul has posted stories showing him on the way, including one where he’s stood outside a private jet that is likely taking him from his Puerto Rico home to Washington D.C.
Others show both the Washington Monument and the White House from close up, and there’s also a video taken from the bus of comedian and podcaster Theo Von, who is likely sat alongside many of the other big names set to attend.
Featured Image Credit: @jakepaul/Instagram
Donald Trump’s last-minute plan to ‘save TikTok’ ahead of ‘immediate shutdown’ on Sunday
We’ve come a long way from him trying to ban TikTok in 2020
It’s a busy time for President-elect Donald Trump, and if juggling his January 20 inauguration at the United States Capitol wasn’t enough to contend with, he’s also got the looming TikTok ban. Legislators have been wrangling with the short-form video platform and its Chinese ownership since it was first banned from U.S. government devices back in December 2019.
A lot has changed since then, with Trump himself proposing a TikTok ban on all devices during his first administration.
Much like his new love of Bitcoin, the returning POTUS seems to have had a chance of heart when it comes to TikTok. Still, as time runs out and TikTok’s January 19 axe is just days away, Donald Trump could have a last-minute plan to save our social scrolling.
Donald Trump could be TikTok’s knight in shining armor (Bloomberg / Contributor / Getty)
According to The Washington Post, Trump could sign an executive order that would stop officials from enforcing the ban for either 60 or 90 days. The outlet says that Trump might’ve been spurred into making such an effort to save TikTok because it’s an app he’s ‘widely admired’ on.
Although judgment is yet to be passed, the Supreme Court looks set to proceed with the ban unless owner ByteDance sells TikTok to a non-Chinese body. There are questions about the legality of Trump’s potential executive order, especially as it could unravel the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act that was enacted by the United States House of Representatives in March 2024.
Alan Rozenshtein, a former national security advisor to the Justice Department, warns that executive orders aren’t ‘magical documents’, adding: “They’re just press releases with nicer stationery.
“TikTok will still be banned, and it will still be illegal for Apple and Google to do business with them. But it will make the president’s intention not to enforce the law that much more official.”
Pam Bondi is Trump’s pick for attorney general, and while she declined to comment on TikTok’s future, it’s also thought that Trump could advise her not to enforce its ban.
There’s been a recent rush of interest in ByteDance selling TikTok’s U.S. operations to someone else, with big names like Elon Musk and MrBeast throwing their hat into the ring. Even Musk’s status as the richest man in the world doesn’t mean much here, and like he took out some substantial loans to buy Twitter in October 2022, it’s not as simple as chucking his wealth at ByteDance.
There’s been public outrage ahead of the potential January 19 ban (Andrew Harnik / Staff / Getty)
TikTok is used by some 170 million Americans every month, and with 99 million downloads, it’s overtaken Instagram to become the USA’s most popular app. The threat of TikTok going dark is still there, but if Trump can pull it off, he’s sure to score big with the younger generations.
Some think Trump could revive the $1.5 billion ‘Project Texas’ corporate reform package that the Biden administration rejected. Project Texas was pitched an attractive offer where the U.S. government had power over TikTok hires and programming, as well as a supposed ‘kill switch’ if it deemed the app was using our data for Chinese spying.
With Trump set to levy harsher tariffs on China, TikTok could be part of a bigger bargaining picture. As finance and compliance lawyer Dong Yizhi concludes: “If senior officials from China can get the talks started after Trump’s inauguration, then maybe there is a chance…But that’s a big ‘if.'”
Featured Image Credit: Scott Olson/Staff / NurPhoto/Contributor / Getty
Viewers in hysterics at Barron Trump’s reaction to Elon Musk’s bizarre celebration at Trump inauguration
Mention of Mars appears to have perked up the richest man in the world
The internet has been sent into hysterics after a video from Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration shows a stark contrast between Barron Trump and Elon Musk’s ‘bizarre’ and excited reaction.
It’s no surprise to anyone that Elon Musk was front and center for much of Donald Trump’s presidential welcome, as the richest man in the world has played a key part in the election campaign and post-victory plans.
Musk’s own mother has commented on how close the pair are, and Elon has now officially taken his place as co-head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) following a pledge to cut $2,000,000,000,000 from federal spending.
Outside of his government affiliations though perhaps the thing that Musk is known for the most is SpaceX – in particular his desire to visit and eventually colonize Mars.
It appears as if Trump is also a keen fan of these plans, as the President mentioned this as something he wants to achieve within the next four years, and that certainly appeared to please the SpaceX founder.
“We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars,” outlined President Trump, “by launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars.”
Elon Musk’s reaction to Trump saying today: “We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars by launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars.”
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This is quite a clear statement of intent, and it could signal that Trump is willing to forgo the regulatory and economic hurdles that have prevented astronauts from setting foot on the Moon for over half a century.
What many have actually focused on in line with this statement though is the reaction of Elon Musk, shown in a cutaway shortly after, especially as it offers quite the contrast to Barron Trump – the president’s son – in front of him.
Musk is shown gleefully nodding, cheering, and giving two thumbs up, whereas Barron Trump looks rather contemplative and even annoyed, especially in juxtaposition to Elon’s enthusiasm.
Social media, of course, has had a lot of fun with this clash of personalities, and the reaction has been that of hysterics across X (formerly Twitter).
“Elon Musk always looks like the annoying classmate who used to throw paper airplanes from the last row,” outlines one user, whereas “Barron, on the other hand, at 18, looks like he’s about to preside over the Supreme Court in a joint session.”
1) Getting some strong King Joffrey vibes from Barron Trump. 2) Elon must be high AF. Nobody acts like that unless they’re 5 yrs old or poppin pills.
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You certainly wouldn’t be able to guess which one of the two actually holds a role in government right now!
Another user adds that they’re “getting some strong King Joffrey vibes from Barron Trump,” while “Elon must be high AF. Nobody acts like that unless they’re 5 yrs old or poppin pills.”
Someone even goes so far to argue that “Barron knows how s*** his dad will be, while Elon Musk dances around like a clown, he will do whatever to try and get one more dollar.”
It’s up to you to decide what to take from this bizarre clip, but it certainly shows the clash of personalities that could be present in this new regime.
