Trump selling Bibles, sneakers and perfume on the campaign trail unprecedented

Sneakers. Perfume. Bargaining cards. Bibles.

These are just a few of the products Donald Trump is peddling in his effort to take down President Joe Biden.

They join an intensive catalog of Trump-branded merchandise, from steaks to scented candles, that the businessman-turned-president has licensed over the years.

But as his campaign coffers dwindle and his fortune becomes threatened, Trump – who was never quite cut off he separated his political profession from his financial one – now he actively combines his business ventures together with his offer in the White House.

“There is no precedent for this level” of business activity during a presidential campaign, Harvard professor Lawrence Lessig told CNBC, although “the trend has been building for many years.”

Brendan Fischer, deputy executive director of the money-in-politics watchdog Documented, agreed.

“I can’t think of any other contemporary example of a presidential candidate selling a range of goods for his own benefit,” Fischer said.

For the average candidate, such an motion could trigger a campaign finance investigation, but Fischer said that probably won’t occur with Trump, who has been selling branded merchandise long before entering politics.

“Trump is a unique case,” he said.

That uniqueness was on full display Tuesday when Trump unveiled his latest promotion: a $60 Bible containing copies of the nation’s founding documents together with lyrics from country star Lee Greenwood’s hit “God Bless the USA.”

The song by Greenwood, who’s working with Trump in support of the dear holy book, frequently appears at the presumptive GOP nominee’s campaign rallies.

Trump made the connection to the campaign even clearer in a video announcing the promotion, warning that Americans’ rights were in danger and declaring, “We’re going to turn it around.” He also repeatedly invoked his campaign slogan “Make America Great Again.”

It’s unclear how much money Trump makes from the Bible – he receives royalties from its sales, said an individual acquainted with the arrangement New York Times — but whatever he gets will actually go into his pocket.

The Bible’s website says it has no reference to the Trump campaign. Instead, it uses Trump’s name, likeness and image under a paid license from an organization in the name CIC Ventures limited liability company.

Trump’s 2023 funds disclosure calls him the “manager, president, secretary and treasurer” of CIC Ventures and lists his revocable trust as the sole owner of the company. The disclosures show that Trump earned greater than $5 million from speaking engagements through the company. Florida business records show CIC’s address is the same as Trump’s golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Lessig noted that Trump’s business moves don’t appear to violate campaign ethics or financial rules.

“I don’t think there is any ethical problem with this, as long as the appropriate reporting requirements are followed,” the professor said.

“Maybe there’s a strategic or branding problem with it, but it’s the same problem as with any political speech,” he added.

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told CNBC: “These successful business deals are completely separate from the campaign.”

Trump’s biblical endorsement got here during Holy Week, the run-up to Easter and a holy time for Christians. It also got here lower than six weeks after Trump’s trip to the US sneaker convention in Philadelphia to launch his own line of tennis shoes.

The aptly titled Trump sneakers can be found for pre-order for $199 to $399. Two of the available models are decorated with the number 45, referring to Trump’s term as the forty fifth president of the USA.

The sneaker-selling site also advertises Trump’s “Victory47” cologne and perfume, each priced at $99.

“Victory” is the characteristic scent of strength and success enclosed in an opulent golden bottle,” we read in the description of the cologne on the website.

Trump’s appearance at the convention further blurred the line between campaign outreach and capitalist enterprise.

“We will quickly turn this country upside down. We’ll turn it upside down. We will remember the young people and we will remember Sneaker Con,” he told the crowd, which greeted him with a mixture of cheers and boos.

The sneaker website says “Trump” and its associated design are trademarks of CIC Ventures and says Trump has licensed his name and likeness to a company called 45Footwear LLC. This company is supposedly registered in Wyoming, one of the cheapest places in the country to start a business.

According to the site, the shoes were not designed, manufactured or distributed by Trump or the Trump Organization.

As the Biden campaign widens its fundraising advantage for Trump’s political operation, the GOP nominee said that “power” he put his own money into the race. He didn’t try this in 2020.

Trump also has just days to post a $175 million appeal bond to stop the state of New York from collecting debts related to a $454 million civil fraud judgment against him. He has already posted a $91.6 million bond while filing an appeal in a separate civil case that found him responsible for defaming the author E. Jean Carroll.

Trump also faces 91 criminal charges in 4 separate courts, and his first trial is about for April 15. Since leaving office in 2021, Trump has spent greater than $100 million on his legal fees, though he says none of that quantity got here out of his own pocket. New York Times.