With less than 10 weeks before the presidential election, Donald Trump had a message for voters in late August: He would be selling more digital trading cards for $99 each.<\/p>\n
\u201cFifty all new stunning digital trading cards \u2014 it\u2019s really something,\u201d Trump says in the ad. \u201cThese cards show me dancing and even holding some bitcoins.\u201d<\/p>\n
Buy 15 or more of the digital cards, he said, and he would mail a single physical trading card. Those came with a special perk: \u201cAn authentic piece of my suit that I wore for the presidential debate.\u201d Five of the suit pieces would even be autographed, he promised. Those willing to buy 75 of the cards \u2014 at a total cost of $7,425 \u2014 were invited to attend a gala dinner at his country club in Florida, he said. \u201cLet\u2019s have fun together,\u201d he said<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, he again took to Truth Social for another post: selling a book \u2014 $99 without his autograph, $499 with his autograph \u2014 of pictures of himself. \u201cA MUST HAVE on U.S. History,\u201d he called it.<\/p>\n
In both cases, the money was not going to his campaign but to for-profit ventures he earns millions from promoting. No presidential candidate has ever so closely linked his election with personal for-profit enterprises, selling a staggering array of merchandise that includes signed Bibles where he receives a royalty for hawking them, pricey sneakers, gold necklaces, cryptocurrency cards, pens, books, licensing fees on overseas properties and more.<\/p>\n
His company\u2019s website also sells a variety of political merchandise at higher prices than his campaign charges for the same items. A \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d hat that sells for $55 on his company website costs $40 through the campaign. A 3\u00d75 flag from the campaign costs $43, while the same size flag on the company\u2019s site costs $86.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no precedent in history at all, and certainly not in modern history, for somebody who has monetized the office or running for office of president the way he has,\u201d said Don Fox, former general counsel for the U.S. Office of Government Ethics.<\/p>\n
But Trump\u2019s various moneymaking strategies also further a narrative that Democrats say resonates with voters: that the former president only cares about himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the many arguments we make against Trump is that he cares solely about himself and his bottom line more than anything else, including the American people, it manifests itself in all sorts of different ways,\u201d said Ammar Moussa, director of rapid response for the Harris campaign. \u201cWe have a lot of different proof points, and it\u2019s not just him hawking bibles and ugly sneakers. It\u2019s also, for instance, when he uses donor money to pay for his personal legal fees.\u201d<\/p>\n
A spokeswoman for Trump did not answer questions about how many deals he had struck, how much money he had made or whether he would continue such deals should he win the White House.<\/p>\n
\u201cPresident Trump left his multibillion-dollar real estate empire to run for office, donated his presidential government salary, and was the first President to actually lose net worth while serving in the White House,\u201d spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said. \u201cUnlike most politicians, President Trump didn\u2019t get into politics for profit. He ran for president because he genuinely loves the people of this country and wants to make America great again.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are advisers and lawyers inside the campaign who say the deals are a little \u201cslimy,\u201d but \u201cTrump relishes being able to market his name,\u201d said one campaign adviser, who like some others spoke on the condition of anonymity to reveal internal details.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis general belief is, \u2018If I\u2019m going to get attacked and have to pay all these lawyers and deal with everything, I need to make some money off it,\u2019\u201d the adviser said.<\/p>\n
Trump has privately complained that being president has cost him money at some of his hotels, golf courses and luxury properties, a fact that is borne out by federal financial disclosures. In other places, he has made far more money because of the gig \u2014 jacking up his Mar-a-Lago Club\u2019s membership fee to $700,000, for example, giving people a chance to have access to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s nothing surprising considering the individual,\u201d Fox said. \u201cHow does any of that commercialization of his former office and the one that he seeks again \u2014 how does that translate to making the lives of ordinary Americans better? It doesn\u2019t. It just goes to lining his own pocket.\u201d<\/p>\n
Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian at Rice University, said former presidents have often made money by selling books, giving speeches or serving on boards. \u201cThey raise money for their libraries, and they get big checks for their memoirs,\u201d Brinkley said.<\/p>\n
But he said no president or major-party presidential candidate had ever marketed themselves the way Trump has \u2014 with extensive licensing deals for gear, or merging a campaign for the presidency with a private business enterprise.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the sense of marketeering themselves in the way that Trump does, selling bobbleheads and MAGA gear, it\u2019s a new lurch into campaign capitalism and profiteering off the White House,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a real blurring of the lines between his private marketeering and campaign politics. You can quickly confuse the voting public.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leavitt called Brinkley\u2019s criticism \u201can absurd allegation from someone who has no idea what he\u2019s talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPresident Trump had multiple No. 1 best-selling books long before he ever stepped foot in the White House,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Trump is interested in licensing deals and one-off deals where he does not have to make large time commitments, according to people who have dealt with the issue. In particular, he has liked the book deals where he makes millions from writing, or approving quick captions on pictures and signing some of the books \u2014 both with an upfront payment and a portion of the sales. He also has expressed a preference for deals where he can be paid to show up somewhere, particularly at events at his own club.<\/p>\n
A person with knowledge of the discussions said the deals usually came directly to Trump or family members and were later scrutinized by lawyers, often after Trump had already said yes. Most of the deals were in the low millions of dollars, this person said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat he was willing to do depended on how much money he was getting, who was asking and what mood he was in,\u201d the person said.<\/p>\n
Trump often caused challenges to his lawyers and aides \u2014 for example, he demanded that the pro shop in his golf course sell MAGA hats, which was campaign merchandise that his private club cannot sell. Eventually, lawyers suggested an iPad be brought into the clubhouse so that people could make a donation to his campaign to get the hats.<\/p>\n
Trump has sold a license agreement to a company that markets a panoply of products branded in his name. Those include various styles of golf shoes, perfume, coolers, and sandals among other projects. Trump hawked the athletic shoes during a stop at a Pennsylvania sneaker event this year, because part of the deal required him to promote them.<\/p>\n
Last year, he reported making $300,000 from promoting a Bible with musician Lee Greenwood, who often appears at Trump events. The former president, who is not known to be particularly religious, asked his supporters to pay about $60 for the Bible. Greenwood approached Trump directly about the deal, people familiar with the matter said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll Americans need a Bible in their home, and I have many. It\u2019s my favorite book,\u201d Trump said in a Truth Social video. \u201cI\u2019m proud to endorse and encourage you to get this Bible. We must make America pray again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some of Trump\u2019s former and informal advisers have discussed launching a Trump vodka line, according to people familiar with the discussions. So far, that has not come to market. A person close to Trump said he has no plans to endorse or start a vodka line.<\/p>\n
One of the more prominent deals includes Trump promoting shoes with his name and autograph on them. Those include \u201cNever Surrender Gold Low Tops\u201d that cost $499. There is a \u201cCrypto President\u201d pair of bitcoin orange sneakers for the same price, and a $299 pair of \u201cFight Fight Fight\u201d shoes that include his bloody face and his arm foisted in the air after the July attempted assassination attempt in Butler, Pa.<\/p>\n
\u201cGetTrumpSneakers.com is not political and has nothing to do with any political campaign. 45Footwear is not owned, managed or controlled by Donald J. Trump, The Trump Organization, CIC Ventures LLC or any of their respective principals or affiliates. 45Footwear uses Donald J. Trump\u2019s name, likeness and image under paid license from CIC Ventures LLC, which license may be terminated or revoked according to its terms,\u201d the website says.<\/p>\n
CIC Ventures is a Trump company. The deal includes Trump getting profits in exchange for promotion and autographed materials. He also had to approve the designs.<\/p>\n
It is unclear exactly who profits \u2014 Trump advisers would not say, and 45Footwear is affiliated with an LLC by the same name that is based in Sheridan, Wyo., according to state records. The LLC was filed by a Wyoming lawyer named Andrew Pierce.<\/p>\n
Pierce\u2019s bio on his company\u2019s website says he was \u201cinitially a Caribbean business developer\u201d who \u201clearned the hard way the importance of correct business structuring. His firsthand experiences led him to advocate for accessible legal guidance, culminating in the creation of WyomingLLCAttorney.com.\u201d<\/p>\n
On some occasions, Trump has benefited from political organizations that he controls. For example, at various political events, donors, supporters and allies are given copies of his picture book, including at the Republican National Convention in July, per attendees. The party has purchased the books.<\/p>\n
One adviser described Trump spending hours signing the copies of the book but said he viewed it as worth the money.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
With less than 10 weeks before the presidential election, Donald Trump had a message for voters in late August: He would be selling more digital trading cards for $99 each. \u201cFifty all new stunning digital trading cards \u2014 it\u2019s really something,\u201d Trump says in the ad. \u201cThese cards show me dancing and even holding some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":9178,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9177\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}