New trouble for Donald and Melania Trump

Since Donald Trump left the White House, Melania Trump has continued to make headlines. However, the typical reporting about Melania is about how she was caught in yet another weird scandal. Given that Melania spent her time as First Lady trying to encourage others to โBe Best,โ the irony only continues to grow.
Already, July is ending with at least two fresh Melania scandals. A couple of weeks ago, only because Trump filed a personal financial disclosure, we learned that Make America Great Again, Again, a Trump-aligned super PAC, paid Melania a total of $155,000 for a supposed โspeaking engagementโ in December 2021. According to Federal Election Commission records, the payments were described as โevent planning and consulting.โ
A representative for the super PAC told the New York Times that Melaniaโs responsibilities actually included โchoosing tableware, arranging settings and picking floral arrangements,โ which is not exactly a speaking engagement. Also, directly paying a spouse of a potential presidential candidate by a campaign or affiliated group is rare, as the Times pointed out. Though he has his own motives as Trumpโs opponent, GOP presidential hopeful Chris Christie further slammed the revelation as Trump โpaying his wife more than 2x what the average American makes just to pick some tableware.โ
Melania is back in the news with a new scandal, thanks to her enthusiasm for trying to make money from the sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Melania has released a collection of โMan on the Moonโ NFTs that she is offering for $75 each and calls a โlimited edition collectible.โ The problem is, either Melania and her team didnโt do their homework or they donโt care.
The NFTs include a famous NASA image of Buzz Aldrin on the moon, taken by Neil Armstrong. Although NASAโs image may not be copyrighted as a product of the government, NASAโs regulations limit usage to โeducational or information purposes.โ Also, NASA specifically addressed NFTs, making clear that the agency โis not approving any merchandising applicationsโ involving them and that โNASA does not wish for its images to be used in connection with NFTs.โ It might once again be time for Melania to dust off that โI REALLY DONโT CARE. DO U?โ jacket. So much for Be Best.

Ron Leshnower is a lawyer and the author of several books, including President Trump’s Month