In modern politics, the term “grifting” has become synonymous with the brand of President Donald Trump and his family. The entire dynasty, as critics frequently point out, seems centered on finding every opportunity to profit from the highest office, transforming the White House into a relentless money-making machine. Yet, even within this “easy mode” regime of wealth extraction, business incompetence occasionally leads to spectacular failures.

And the most spectacular failure yet has just occurred, caused by none other than former First Lady Melania Trump. Her namesake cryptocurrency scheme collapsed catastrophically, costing supporters millions of dollars and, more significantly, inflicting profound public humiliation on the former President, who has always boasted that “everything he touches turns to gold.” This incident is not merely a personal financial disaster but exposes the deep corruption and utter lack of transparency within the entire Trump family’s crypto operations.

The Crypto Scandal: A “Backdoor Bribery Scheme” Under Legal Scrutiny

Senator Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut) did not mince words when labeling the former President’s entire cryptocurrency venture as “the most corrupt thing any president has ever done in the history of the United States.” Senator Murphy argues that these operations are not only unethical but are “likely illegal” and urges the Department of Justice to launch an investigation.

According to Murphy, this operational model is the equivalent of “posting your Cash App on the White House web page,” effectively creating a “backdoor bribery scheme.” This model allows CEOs, foreign oligarchs, or anyone with business interests before the U.S. government, to buy favors by pouring massive amounts of cash into the Trump family’s crypto coins or other ventures. Murphy pointedly states: “You can easily buy favors in this administration,” and crypto serves as a tool to facilitate just that. He notes that the practice goes beyond crypto, extending to the arbitrary use of tariffs as a weapon of power—not just an economic policy—to “put severe consequences” on anyone who does not bend the knee to the “mob boss” or actively provide gifts to the administration. This turns national policies into personal instruments, serving the financial interests of a single family.

The Murky UAE Connection: A $2 Billion Investment Scandal

The corruption surrounding the Trump family’s crypto ventures extends far beyond worthless meme coins. It involves large-scale transactions intertwined with foreign interests and U.S. foreign policy.

The Trump family’s crypto project, World Liberty Financial, has chillingly demonstrated the transparency with which they use public status for private gain. Eric Trump, along with co-founder Zack Witoff, spoke at a crypto conference in Dubai, UAE, called Token 2049.

What makes this particularly damning is that out of all the potential partners in the world, they chose to partner with the son of Trump’s Middle East envoy on World Liberty Financial. This envoy is known to wield significant influence in shaping U.S. policy in the region. The partnership is viewed as a clear message to the Gulf countries: when they deal with World Liberty Financial—Trump’s crypto venture—they are dealing directly with the individuals responsible for making U.S. policy in that region.

And the “miracle” occurred: right at the conference, MGX, an investment firm backed by the Emirati government, announced that after reviewing all crypto companies globally, they decided to select the company run by the President’s son and the Middle East envoy’s son to invest $2 billion in the crypto exchange Binance. This is concrete evidence of using political standing to garner direct profit from foreign governments, in what Senator Murphy describes as a “stunning and bone-chilling” display of self-enrichment.

Melania’s $40 Million “Movie Grift”

Beyond crypto, Melania Trump engaged in another form of political profiteering through media. The former First Lady secured a licensing deal worth $40 million with Amazon to distribute a documentary about her life.

Although the film was described by critics as a “shitty documentary,” Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was clearly not acquiring the rights because he believed it would break box office records. Instead, the transaction is widely perceived as a direct payment intended to buy political favor and avert potentially punitive policies from the administration.

Furthermore, Melania’s agents attempted to sell sponsorship rights for the film starting at $10 million to prominent CEOs and billionaires who had attended the inauguration. In return, sponsors would be thanked in the credits and invited to the premiere. This functions as an overt transactional mechanism: offering a “gift” (a $10 million sponsorship) in exchange for political favoritism or protection. Simultaneously, the Trump family was pitching a reality show about Don Jr. hunting, illustrating a pervasive, comprehensive effort to commercialize every aspect of their lives for monetary gain.

The Spectacular Crash: MelaniaCoin Plunges 99%

While Donald Trump and his family continue to profit from their highest position, the spectacular failure of Melania’s personal ventures has inflicted major public humiliation. According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump supporters who believed that “everything he touches turns to gold” are now confronting a harsh reality.

Since the inauguration, the stock price of the parent company behind Truth Social has plummeted 75%. Trump-branded cryptocurrencies have suffered an even worse fate, with their value declining 86%. But the apex of the calamity is MelaniaCoin, the meme coin bearing the former First Lady’s name, which has lost a staggering 99% of its value.

This near-total collapse presents two equally humiliating scenarios:

Personal Financial Loss: Melania’s personal holdings in MelaniaCoin may have been wiped out, resulting in millions of dollars in losses for the Trump family itself due to sheer bad investment.

“Rugpull” Conduct: The second, and arguably more likely scenario, is that Melania orchestrated a “rugpull”—selling off her coin positions en masse, flooding the market, and causing the “useless, artificial, nonsense” coin to crash completely.

In either case, the outcome is humiliating for Donald Trump. He is either revealed to have lost millions due to his wife’s financial incompetence, or he is publicly disgraced because his wife defrauded their most loyal fans—the very people who bought the coin in hopes of “buying favor” or believing in the Trump brand.

This failure serves as a stark reminder that the Trump family’s greed and ineptitude in handling complex financial transactions eventually carry a cost. While they managed to secure millions through traditional transactions like the Amazon deal, the unrestrained and irrational attempts at speculative profiteering in the crypto world have collapsed, taking with them the reputation and money of those who placed their trust in the brand.

This scandal underscores an undeniable truth: the sole purpose of the Trump project is personal profit, and even when attempting to acquire money in the easiest way possible, the abuse of power and lack of expertise can cause criminal schemes to backfire, leading to unwarranted humiliation and loss.