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Despite flip-flopping on cryptocurrencies in a desperate effort to woo voters and perhaps line his own pockets, Donald Trump still doesn’t seem to have any idea how these currencies actually work. At an event for crypto enthusiasts over the weekend, the former president proposed paying down the U.S. debt with cryptocurrencies and a few supplies from Staples.
“Maybe we’ll pay off the $35 trillion in crypto,” he said. “How do you like that? I’ll write on a little piece of paper, ‘$35 trillion crypto’ — we have no debt. Right? That’s what I like.”
The room broke out in laughter as Trump pointed at someone and said: “He likes that idea, too; he’s laughing.”
But the GOP presidential nominee wasn’t kidding about his magical solution for the national debt, which Republicans only seem to care about during Democratic presidencies. In fact, Trump made the same suggestion in a Fox News interview last month, saying that “a little crypto check” could “wipe out” the $35 trillion. If it were that easy, one wonders why he didn’t do it during his first term.
Now, the suggestion — as dumb as it sounds — seems like a way to reward the crypto bros who’ve backed Trump’s campaign. To better understand how disastrous this idea could ultimately be in practice, I recommend reading this Forbes article by analyst Ben Ritz, and this Medium article by crypto entrepreneur Tavonia Evans.
In the meantime, it appears we can add cryptocurrency to wind power, basic economics, climate change and reproductive health to the long list of topics about which Trump is utterly clueless.