When Trump posted his “big announcement” that he was selling his own NFT trading cards, the whole world burst out laughing. Members of the MAGA cult had thought he was going to declare his candidacy for Speaker of the House or maybe reveal the identity of his Vice-Presidential selection in his third run for the White House. QAnon cultists felt sure he was going to identify members of the Deep State, or the arrest and execution of Democrats, or that the military had installed him as President.
Nope. Trading cards.
Funny, yes. But it is far, far worse than you think. And to understand why, we have to begin tracing the web of corporations involved in producing these worthless digital cards. They lead to some sleazy places.
Before we start down the rabbit hole of partnerships, corporations and other entities that lead to criminals and fraudsters, I need to address one question up front: What exactly are buyers of the Trump Trading Cards purchasing? Yes, they are NFTs, but unlike others of these digital art pieces, the people foolish enough to purchase a Trump Trading Card don’t actually own the things they paid for, at least not in the traditional sense. If any buyer decides to sell their Trump card in a secondary market, they don’t get all the proceeds. The fine print reveals that 10% of every secondary market sales goes right back to Trump and his fellow grifters. For more details, buyers are told to click the link to terms and conditions. Buyers have to confirm they read the terms and conditions but…the terms and conditions are nowhere to be found. When you click the link to the terms, this pops up:
Trump himself is not producing the cards, any more than he has developed any real estate projects since 2010. Instead, he has reached a licensing agreement with a company called NFT International LLC. All his licensing agreements, dating back decades (Real estate, Trump Steaks, Trump University etc.) have all had the same terms: The licensor pays Trump a bunch of cash up front, then he gets a share of the revenue produced by whatever the grifty product is. That number has ranged from 10% to 50%, and there is no reason to expect that this time it is any less – in fact, it is almost certainly more.
So, let’s begin delving into the shady world of NFT International. Start with the simple part: NFT International is licensing Trump’s name and likeness from a company called CIC Digital LLC, a limited liability corporation formed just nine months ago and registered in Delaware. Many corporate entities and partnerships form in Delaware because the state offers unique legal protections that are not as well established in other states: Primarily, privacy is protected. Any business entity filed in Delaware does not have to disclose its officers and directors to the public or the state, which allows for complete anonymity. Even better for Trump, the state allows for a slimmed down corporate structure, where just one person to hold the role of officer, director, and shareholder. Trump has hundreds of LLC’s that were revealed in his financial disclosure when he ran for president, almost all of them created in Delaware and with him as the sole officer, director, and shareholder. If he has created CIC using his standard practice, that means Trump is completely in control of the partnership. This also creates a legal protection for Trump and his companies, because as a partnership, no one filing suit can “pierce the corporate veil” as the term goes, and reach Trump’s pockets or that of his company, the Trump Corporation.
The registered agent for CIC – the entity that registered the partnership with the state – is also hidden from view. It is called “National Registered Agents, Inc.” and its ownership is also undisclosed. However, it has registered and incorporated many business entities, including an Austrian aerial camera company, an Arizona computer security business, a dental partnership, a real estate partnership and scores
