Donald Trump tends to use vague language when talking about things he doesn’t understand, but when talking about cryptocurrencies, the Republican was willing to be specific. As regular readers know, the former president has called them a “disaster waiting to happen,” adding that as far as he was concerned, Bitcoin seemed “like a scam.”
When it came to crypto, Trump said he was “not a fan,” adding, “Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity.” While in office, he insisted that Bitcoin is “not money” and criticized it as “highly volatile and based on thin air.”
And then the evolution started.
Ahead of an appearance at the Libertarian Party’s national convention, the GOP nominee declared online in May that he was suddenly “VERY POSITIVE AND OPEN MINDED” on the issue. Around the same time, the former president’s 2024 campaign announced that it would accept donations in cryptocurrency.
Last month, one day after Trump met with leaders of several Bitcoin mining companies at Mar-a-Lago, he published a pro-Bitcoin message to his social media platform that he almost certainly didn’t write.
In case the flip-flop weren’t quite obvious enough, the Republican removed all doubt over the weekend. The New York Times reported:
Former President Donald J. Trump vowed on Saturday that he would turn the United States into a “Bitcoin superpower” if returned to the White House, wielding much of the same rhetoric of persecution that he has applied to himself and his supporters to appeal to cryptocurrency enthusiasts who want to see less regulation.
At times, the audience heard a disjointed message. As he wrapped up his remarks at the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, for example, Trump said, “Have a good time with your Bitcoin and your crypto and everything else that you’re playing with.”
The words of a man who’s given the subject considerable thought, to be sure.
Earlier in his remarks, the candidate also asked event attendees to thank him for stopping the Biden administration from doing terrible things to the crypto industry. How, exactly, is Trump standing in the Biden administration’s way? I have no idea, and Trump didn’t say.
Perhaps most notably from a policy perspective, the GOP nominee also vowed to create a “national bitcoin stockpile“ for reasons unknown.
But with the election in mind, Trump also told his audience that Vice President Kamala Harris intends to wage an “anti-crypto crusade,” as part of an attack against the industry from “left-wing fascists.”
What he neglected to say was, “Can you believe Harris is critical of crypto the same way I was before some wealthy donors encouraged me to change my mind?”
Indeed, Politico recently published a report with a memorable headline: “Trump keeps flip-flopping his policy positions after meeting with rich people.” Unfortunately, it’s happened quite a bit. For example, Trump supported banning TikTok, only to reverse course after chatting with Jeff Yass, a billionaire hedge fund manager — and prospective campaign donor — who has a multibillion-dollar stake in ByteDance, TikTok’s parent corporation. Something similar appears to have happened with the cryptocurrency industry. Trump also started hedging on some of his immigration policies around the time he met with wealthy corporate executives at a Business Roundtable meeting. A few months earlier, Trump publicly suggested that conservatives should give up on their opposition to Anheuser-Busch shortly before he attended a fundraiser hosted by an Anheuser-Busch lobbyist. It’s tempting to see this as corruption, but it’s worth being more specific about what’s happened. Trump isn’t saying, “I’ll change my position in exchange for money,” he’s instead effectively saying, “Since I don’t care about governing or public policy anyway, I’ll just align my beliefs with my wealthy donors’ preferences.” If recent history is any guide, it’s only a matter of time before this list grows. This post updates our related earlier coverage.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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