Yes, yes, they are. Good night, everyone! Oh, ok – let me list to you the ways of how Trump has been able to highly monetize MAGA to remain his main cash cows.
An entire niche industry
If you happen to be a MAGA fan, then you are in a very unique club of people who consume products and services nobody else on the planet is buying. This article might sting a bit, but that is not the intent… well, maybe a little or a lot. Why? Well, it depends on how much of your disposable income, or line of credit – plus interest, that you’ve already sunk on buying Trump’s stuff.
Warning: This is not an article for snowflakes. If you are too scared to realize that you’ve spent thousands of dollars on MAGA merch, or still paying for that stuff on your credit card, or it makes you realize that you’re instrumental in being a cash cow for Trump, then this article might either open your eyes so you can regain your financial stability, or make you cry on a corner while sucking your thumb, wrapped in a MAGA blanket, or car-leadership-sized Trump flag. I’ll be telling you what others don’t care about you won’t tell you. But I care about you more than he does (even if you get mad at me), so I’ll be blunt but fair. In the end, it is your choice to spend your money (or credit) any way you want it.
Ok, so with that out of the way let’s delve in. MAGA folks spends on the low end a few hundred dollars, on the top end several thousand dollars on MAGA related merch. And some of this merch is also intended as vulgar depictions or insults to the left, liberals, Biden, Kamala, Clinton, or whomever has become a target by Trump. “Trump that B*tch,” “Grab them by the P*ssy,” “F*ck Biden, and F*ck you too for voting for him” – you get the idea, and you have likely seen these and even more vulgar versions of this apparel on somebody’s body.
And by the way, they run for at least $25 bucks or so, and you have plenty of choices… like if you want a photo of trump giving people the middle finger, or any other kind of MAGA paraphernalia. Who do you think buys that stuff? And surprisingly those are likely folks who claim that the economy is so bad they can’t buy eggs, yet they can buy all this MAGA stuff and stand for hours waiting for him to show up to speak on a rally – and sometimes they don’t buy this merch outright, but are making payments on their credit card for all these purchases.
So for the sake of argument, let’s say that each MAGA person has a $40.00 MAGA hat (some are cheaper, most are more expensive), and for any random Tweet of Trump supporters he gets about ~237K likes by each red-hat wearer. That is $9,480.000 spent on hats for that group alone.
So let’s dress a typical Trump rally goer, and put an average price tag on MAGA stuff I’m finding randomly online. And yes, there would be a markup for anybody buying this stuff at the actual rally with “Official Donald J. Trump” branding. Note that I’m not even adding the most expensive item I find for each. Those hats alone can be north of $50 USD. And no, I won’t add links – you can google it yourself if you wish – I won’t be liable for adding to this cash-grab grift.
- $ 40.00 MAGA Hat
- $ 22.00 Scarf
- $ 55.00 MAGA Flag for Trump 2024
- $ 38.00 MAGA Hoodie
- $ 26.00 MAGA Shirt
- $ 45.00 MAGA Pants especially for women’s yoga-type pants
- $110.00 Shoes (not talking about those “signed ones”)
- $145.00 Watch (not talking about the $100K watch)
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$481.00 That’s a lot of disposable income, buddy.
Sure, not everybody is buying all of that, some buy more! Like if a household has their family dressed on this regalia, this expense might be perhaps divided between shirts and other stuff for each person. But some MAGA hard-core fans spend tons of money on this stuff. For example a “F*ck Biden hoodie” costs $60.00 plus shipping and handling. And yes, some people might be able to find it “cheaper” somewhere – but the point is that only one group of people in the planet buys this stuff.
So where do you think Trump is funding his “empire?” – Answer, mainly from YOU, from MAGA. His “Truth” Social Media Site is spiraling down the tubes, the stock market hit a record high on September 2024, and Trump’s DJT was underperforming (euphemism for tanking). I’m not on Truth Social, nor do I plan on being, but I’ve seen it from people who do have it… and it is full of adds about Trump’s type merch and many of his questionable business ventures. Let’s discuss about it.
Every week there is some new “Trump Collectible”
In an effort that many could only qualify as a “grift,” Trump once again is making headlines for yet another “Trump” product. Including his $100.000.00 gold watches. Watches that do not exist yet (the website says that the picture is not necessarily what the actual product will look like – these are PRE-ORDERS without an actual definite delivery date), and Trump’s claims these watches to be Swiss made, yet people who are experts on this assert it looks like a white label Chinese-made product… which can retail for about $100.00 or $1,000 USD… or a thousand or a hundred times cheaper than what Trump is charging for it.
Trump on his latest add for this watch goes on to say this is a great “Christmas Gift” – and it makes me wonder, and I’ve commented about this on social media. If anybody has the disposable income to spend $100K in a watch as a Christmas gift, then they need to STFU about the economy being bad under Biden. Especially when the average living wage in the USA is around $60K a year.
Anyone who can afford to buy this for $100k as a “Christmas Gift” might want to STFU about the economy being in shambles or the country in decline for them, when the median living wage salary in the USA is between $59K-$63K a YEAR!
And although Trump does say on his fund raiser ads that appear in YouTube to “only donate if they can afford it, and take care of their family first” for actual cash donations – yet, he seems to be lost in the irony as he keeps offering a bunch of other products that are clearly for self-serving interest… not always for the campaign pot of money mind you, these go to his own pockets. Yes, many items are part of the campaign, and this following video speaks about it. But remember that there are plenty of other “unofficial” Trump merch folks who are riding this MAGA wave.
Credit to the Washington Post for the following video.
If you buy a MAGA hat, where does your money go? | Campaign Money (youtube.com)
I’m not telling you not to spend your money whichever way you please. I’m personally a lot more judicious with my budget, and not because I have money in hand means I want to spend it on something like this. But hey, you do you. And just like I would not be spending a dime on MAGA apparel, I am most definitely won’t be spending money on any of the following things Trump sells – most of these by the way do go directly to his pocket – as far as every source I’ve seen. Thus far nothing seem to contradict that these are for his own benefit.
Here are a few examples of what he is selling that you might or might not be able to afford. Yes, some of these were originally sold for a different price point based on a few factors, but this is the average for some products, and the original price for others that I’m seeing as I’m looking at them now. This is by no means an all-inclusive list. He sells a lot more stuff. And a lot of it is pretty gnarly and tacky – but expensive.
- $100.000.00 The Trump Victory Tourbillion Watch
- $ 59.99 God Bless the USA Bible (selling for $100+ now)
- $ 399.00 Gold Sneakers (lost value to >$200
- $ 750.00 First assassination attempt white sneakers
- $ 99.00 NFTs (per each one)
- $ 100.00 Coins (made with $30 worth of silver)
- $ ???.?? Crypto currency, I guess depends on you
- $ 600.00 Melanias “limited edition” necklace
- $ 129.00 Assassination attempt cologne
- $ 99.00 Picture Book Butler Attempt ($499 if signed)
- $ 30.00 Melania’s Book supposed to be her “Memoir”
The Tourbillion watch alone, supposedly only 147 are to be made and serialized, and he keeps the first one, so 146 for sale. That is $14,600,000.00 for this watch alone. But of course he has a lot of others a “more affordable” price points of ~$500. The following video goes into better detail from an actual watch expert.
Credit to the content creator Oisín O Malley.
EXPERT looks at $100K TRUMP WATCH (youtube.com)
And I agree with the person on this video, hey if you have the money to spend it, it is your cash. But I would not be spending money on that (or any of Trump’s merchandise for that matter). To be honest, even though I could afford something like that, there is no way I would do it.
In fact, even my top-of-the-line apple-watch that I have now (and love because it was a gift), I would not have bought it myself – probably ever. I have my little collection of nice watches, and I don’t even remember when it is the last time, I wore any of them – and yes, they were all gifts. The last thing I bought was a Casio, because I needed something resilient and convenient when I was still in the Navy onboard a ship. I still have it, got a few battle scars, but it is working as it should.
Some of the Trump’s products I’ve listed and many I didn’t have indeed gone up on price by many resellers – if they went up on “value” is another discussion. I guess you could argue that there is a market for the stuff he slaps his name on. But yes, that is only in the MAGA-universe. There is no way people outside MAGA are spending a dime on MAGA merch, unless they do so as parody or they have another transactional intention. Yes, there is another [potential] segment of people who buys Trumps stuff for a more transactional purpose. And this part is truly concerning.
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Opening the door for coercion
There is a reason why most politicians, and people who are in a position of influence do not sell stuff attached to their name. Why? Because this can open the door to conflicts of interest, or coercion. Putting a bunch of stuff for sale broadcasts to unscrupulous entities and personalities that the person in question is has an unspoken sign that reads “buy my influence” – and if you think Trump is immune to that, think again. There is no shortage of scandals that were watered down by Trump’s staff while he was in office. Examples? Sure…
- Accepting millions of dollars by the Egyptian Government before his first presidential election.
- Charging premium rates for the secret service when staying in Trump’s properties in the USA and abroad.
- Having foreign dignitaries and other foreign policymakers staying at Trump’s hotels while in Washington DC during the Trump era, and other places near Trump.
- The Mar-a-Lago fee raised from $200,000.00 to $1,000,000.00 for membership. And people frolicking with Trump are not only regular very rich US persons, but it is crawling with foreign and domestic influencers. Some of which are very controversial figures.
I can go on, but this article is already long enough, and you can always do more research to validate and find even more data than what I am providing you here. The point is that if there is questionable stuff for sale, then the person selling it can very well be put for sale too. What are they really buying? Influence and the ear of the person who at least at one point was the most powerful person in the world, and wants to regain that power. And yes, that is a HUGE deal, and a HUGE vulnerability.
If Trump finds himself in a position that he owes “favors” to somebody who helped them financially to gain that position – what do those who bought that influence gain? A lot, and depends on the level of influence they exerted over Trump and/or his orbit. And this could range from acquiring favors, access to people in his inner circle, or him directly, potential of blackmail if Trump has any blind spots, and much more. Yes, let’s quickly talk about it.
With a lot of the more expensive things that his regular MAGA folks can’t really buy – like a $100K watch, this opens the door for foreign influencers to fill that gap. For example an oligarch, or an adversarial-aligned government representative could very well get to fill Trump’s pockets in exchange for something. And this transaction of influence would be irregulated – unlike how money near a candidate is regulated with under campaign finance laws. In other words, it is naïve to think that people are just going to buy a cheaply made watch for 100K with Trump’s name slapped on it, just because they like his name. They are getting something for that purchase. What is it? Again, it depends on the purchaser.
In some instances it can very well be a way to indirectly influence the US election by adding money to Trump’s coffers in order for him to sustain his lifestyle. Trump’s financial status was disclosed because of his recent lost civil trials (where he still owes ~1/2 billion dollars), have concluded he is reportedly a lot less affluent than he claims it to be. In other words, many experts assert that Trump is cash poor, but he has a lot of cash flow. And where does the cash flows? Mainly from his base, and those many otherwise anonymous donors who are buying his other stuff that is unattainable by most of his supporters.
And in case it was not obvious enough, Trump claims to be for the little people, yet it costs 1,000,000.00 to get into Mar a Lago. If you don’t believe me, just show up with your $500.00 MAGA regalia to the front door in Palm Beach, and make your way to the dining room, and see how long it takes it for their staff to kick your happy a*s back to the street. But if you’re an oligarch with deep pockets, you’ll be dining right next to the former President. Do you think they give a damn about you? If you do, then you might be very-very naïve.
The fact is that your usefulness is to keep the cash flowing, giving him your undivided devotion, and attack anybody who dares hurt Trump’s feelings… because it hurts your feelings too when Trump gets hurt. Why do you think is that? It is because YOU are INVESTING your time, money, dedication, loyalty, credit, credibility, personality, relationships, trust, devotion, obedience, etcetera to him.
Sure he is surrounded by some of his usual suspects, which includes the influencers and other acolytes who often show up on TV… who by the way also make tons of money out of you, but you ain’t making a dime. Even if you’re selling their merch. Remember when Biden dropped from the race? What do you think it happened to all that merch that was vulgar about Biden? It went to the trash can, because he ain’t running again, and the Kamala merch is nowhere near as catchy as the “F*ck Brandon” stuff.
I’ll end by saying again that you’re more than welcome to spend your time, devotion, money, and other loyalty you have left on Trump. But you have to also realize that most Americans – yes, the majority, Trump lost the popular vote twice by millions of votes, would not give this man a dime because they seen it as exploitative. We cannot force you to stop spending time and money on Trump, we can only tell you why we don’t. And I will be unapologetically about it.
To me it is a huge red flag if a politician is selling all kinds of stuff in a way that seems like a grift. Because that makes them vulnerable to exploitation, even if you disagree – it is irrelevant, those who know how to get leverage from that will do so, and if you don’t realize it, they can gain leverage from you too. In fact, if you’re a MAGA fan, they have already been grifting from you for years. You are just happy about it because you like what they sell. Sure, that is your choice, but not just because you like this stuff means that others are onboard with spending time and money the same way.
I know you love Trump, and you want him to be right – you might even feel it in your heart. And guess what? Many ex-Ultra MAGAs felt exactly the same way. And when I posed the same question… what if Biden, or Kamala would be selling bibles, and 100K watches with their name on it, and NFTs, and vulgar merchandise giving the middle finger to MAGA, and overpriced coins, and apparel that is full of insulting epithets, and appropriating the American flag with male-erotic depictions of Biden, and selling cryptocurrency, and having fundraisers that are not documenting the source of that income during an election year…? Would that make you cringe? I bet it would, now you know how it feels for non-Trump supporters.
If Biden or Harris would be doing that, I’m sure your brain wheels would be spinning as thought something is not quite right on that equation. Well, newsflash, that is what people who don’t subscribe to MAGA get to see. And further, GOP people who were against Trump before 2016 were worried about the very same thing – except that many flipped (for example, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Linsey Graham, Kelly Ann Conway, Tommy Lahren, J.D. Vance, etc.) They changed their minds for some reason from scorching critics to bootlicking acolytes. – Most of us realized what MAGA folks for some reason won’t see. These are red flags.
I’ll be writing another article tomorrow about why MAGA are afraid to accept even one mistake by Trump. And spoiler alert, it is because if they concede to ONE mistake, there is likely a lot more they would have to concede as being wrong, and that can be terrifying. It is ok if you were wrong, just know that there are people extending you a helping hand, though many (very vulgarly) refuses accepting these helping hand as they drown on their own glass of water. HLC