Melania Trump Is Auctioning Off Her Hat – And Showing Us Just How Dystopian The Metaverse Can Be

What a year it has been. With so much talk of Omicron, illegal Downing Street parties and, er, Sex and the Cityreboots, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the events of January 2020 were much more than a mere 12 months ago. But one thing last year's January has is common with the here and now? Melania Trump.

It was almost a year ago that the Trumps departed the White House to make room for Joe Biden, current US President. Their exit occurred in the wake of the attack on the Capitol, an incident which only heightened the feeling of polarisation felt by may in America – a feeling which really took root during the Trump tenure.

So the question is, what's the right amount of time to make a comeback after such events? The answer, according to Melania Trump, is just short of a year. A few days ago, she launched an online auction consisting of three pieces that form what she's calling the Head of State Collection. Clearly exhibiting that, ahem, famous sense of humour, Melania likely named the collection so as it features a hat, a watercolour painting of her wearing the hat and a NFT (or non-fungible token) of the artwork for those who like their art to be digital.

The hat, worn by Mrs. Trump in 2018 during the state visit of French President Macron and his wife, Brigitte is, according to Melaniatrump.com, 'iconic' 'one-of-a-kind' and signed by Melania herself. Designed by Hervé Pierre, it was made to match the very, very white Michael Kors ensemble Melania wore for the Trump Administration's first official state visit and was apparently 'a nod to French culture.'

The watercolour of Mrs. Trump was made by Marc-Antoine Coulon, who added a 'subtle movement' for the NFT version – what a treat. The starting bid? $271,116.00.

We can't say she didn't warn us. In December, Melania Trump's Twitter account announced her 'new venture', otherwise known as the Melania Trump NFT Platform, which threatened – sorry, promised – to release NFTs 'in regular intervals'. The first was another watercolour by Coulon entitled 'Melania's Vision', depicting the steely gaze of Mrs. Trump's eyes. It sold for $150.

According to the statement published on Twitter last month, Mrs. Trump said that this new project 'embodies my passion for the arts, and will support my ongoing commitment to children through my Be Best initiative.'

While the statement says that 'a portion of the proceeds will assist children ageing out of the foster care system by way of economic empowerment and with expanded access to resources needed to excel in the fields of computer science and technology,' exactly how much money will be given and to whom, exactly, remains unclear. At the time of writing, emails requesting such information sent by the New York Times were not returned by Mrs. Trump's office.

What does this all tell us about anything? Well, other than the feeling of total incredulity that there exists in this world a human being who is willing to pay over £200,000 for Melania Trump's hat, it's possibly the fact that life is entirely unpredictable.

After all, this time last year, when headlines were still dominated by the controversies surrounding the Trump administration, did you really think you'd be reading about an auction, held by Melania Trump, selling a watercolour painting of herself that doesn't actually exist in the physical realm?

Welcome to 2022.