Bizarre Claim About Barron Trump Has Everyone Looking At Him Differently

Donald and Melania Trump are firmly on the same page when it comes to their beloved son. Despite the fact that Barron Trump occupied the White House for four years, the public only rarely caught glimpses of him, and Barron's personal life was kept completely under wraps thanks to his parents' protective ways. Even today, all we really know about the former first son is his height (as Donald keeps mentioning, Barron is tall), his high school (Barron just graduated), and a hint of his future plans (he's looking for a college without controversial protesters). So it came as a massive shock when a convicted felon — no, not the one you're thinking of — claimed that Barron collaborated with him on a cryptocurrency deal.

Martin Shkreli, aka "Pharma Bro," who served a four-year prison sentence for securities fraud, asserted that they worked together to create a crypto token called $DJT. Crypto tokens are a cybercurrency that can be bought, sold, traded, or used as collateral or for fundraising. "I have over 1,000 pieces of evidence I created it with Barron," Shkreli boasted in a text exchange reposted on X, formerly known as Twitter, by crypotcurrency investigator ZachXBT. According to Newsweek, Shkreli reiterated during a live event on the platform that the teen was one of 50 people who assisted him, noting, "We're friends, he wants to make money." It was a bizarre chapter in the ongoing saga between Shkreli and the Trumps.

Barron Trump may live an insanely lavish life, but it's not inconceivable that the 18-year-old would want to get in on the crypto craze to earn some quick cash. However, there was a time when Barron's dad definitely wouldn't have approved. Back in 2015, pharmaceutical entrepreneur Martin Shkreli was accused of raising the price of an AIDS drug to $750 per pill. At the time, Donald was campaigning to be president, and he tore into Shkreli during a rally in North Carolina. As The Hollywood Reporter recounted, Donald raged in part, "I thought it was a disgusting thing, what he did. [...] That guy is nothing. He's zero. He's nothing. He ought to be ashamed of himself." Unconcerned, Shkreli proudly informed an audience at Harvard two years later that he was sending the-then-president his suggestions on how to lower drug costs and other health expenses. 

Then in 2018, the so-called "Pharma Bro" was convicted of scamming investors in a securities fraud case and sentenced to seven years in prison. Released in 2022, he's apparently now on good terms with the man who once trash-talked him publicly. After releasing the $DJT crypto token, Shkreli announced the profits would go toward the Trump family, writing on X, "I can prove Trump and/or Trump family involvement" in its creation. The controversial politician has yet to comment on Shkreli's allegation. But since Donald has sold everything from doctored Bibles to gold sneakers in the name of self-promotion, maybe he's happy his son is getting in on the action.