Presidential Corruption

For Trump, the office of the presidency itself is an asset, which he has leveraged to hawk all sorts of shlock and paraphernalia.

Where to begin? So many con games, misleading promotions, false advertising and conflicts of interest, so little space to write about them.

This is the fifth in a series of articles on Trump’s corruption. It focuses on his second term in office. The theme of this article is how he is blatantly making money by selling stuff related to his presidency.

According to the Brennan Center for Justice, Trump is the only president since the 1970s who has not “placed his assets in a ‘blind trust’ that hid their contents from him and was administered by an independent trustee.” Far from it. For Trump, the office of the presidency itself is an asset, which he has leveraged to hawk all sorts of shlock and paraphernalia.

Can he get away with this presidential profiteering in the long run? We’ll get to that toward the end of the article.

Aggressive, Dishonest, Annoying

According to Merriam Webster’s on-line dictionary, a “huckster” is “one who sells or advertises something in an aggressive, dishonest, or annoying way  . . . They have been selling things out of the back of wagons, in narrow alleys, and on the fringes of towns for years (though nowadays, they’re more likely to plug their wares on television or the Internet).”

Does Trump deserve this unsavory label? The nonprofit organization, Democracy 21, argues that “Trump’s ‘for profit’ corrupt practices have fundamentally compromised our national interests and integrity, and provided yet one more example of why Trump is the worst president we have ever had.”

Does Trump hide his presidential self-dealing? Au contraire, it’s right there on the “about us” page of the website for the Trump Store—“the official retail website of the Trump Organization.” The Trump Store carries hundreds of products—from golf club covers to MAGA hats to jewelry. The Trump Organization has several other affiliates and subsidiaries that also sell merchandise linked to Trump’s presidency. And who is the sole owner of the Trump Organization? The Donald himself.

Made in America?

The Trump Store and other Trump promotional schemes frequently toss around the phrases “Made in America” and “Make America Great Again.” The acronym, “MAGA,” adorns many pieces of merchandise. But a little research shows that items for sale are often not made in America. Claiming that they are is illegal. Profits from the sale of MAGA-labeled products are going into Trump’s pockets, not the making of a great America (whatever that is).

Some of my favorite examples of Trump’s hucksterism include the following:

• The God Bless the U.S.A. Bible — According to Wikipedia, the country singer Lee Greenwood first cobbled together and published a King James version of the Bible combined with his song “God Bless the U.S.A.,” the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and other documents in 2021 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center in New York. Trump cut a deal with Greenwood in March 2024 to share royalties on a Trump-promoted series of these Bibles and related paraphernalia. The website for these products features a basic USA Bible for $59.99, a pink and gold edition for $74.99, a President Donald J. Trump signature edition for $1,000, and, believe it or not, a series of Trump Guitars, the most expensive of which is autographed by Trump and runs for $11,500.
• Trump Watches — These watches are sold through the gettrumpwatches.com website. The site advertises dozens of men’s and women’s watches, including, for example, the “Fight Fight Fight Red Beauty” version, which sells for $499.
• Trump Sneakers — The Trump Sneakers website carries a range of different shoes, including “Exclusive ‘Trump 2028’ Gold High Tops” for a mere $799 a pair.
• Trump Mobile Smartphones — In June 2025, Donald Jr. and Eric Trump announced the upcoming launch of Trump Mobile, a new cellular service and cell phone company. The feature product of the company is T1, a gold Smartphone inscribed with the words “Trump Mobile – Make America Great Again,” priced at $499, not including monthly service fees. Initially, the T1 Phone was promoted as “built in the U.S.,” but the company website was changed to read “designed with American values in mind,” because many of the components necessary to build the phone are not made in America.
• Bright Red Silk Ties — These ties, emblematic of Trump’s attire, can be purchased at the Trump Store for $110 each. At Amazon, similar red ties go for $19.99. The silk cloth from which the Trump ties are made is cut and assembled (but not manufactured) in the United States.

Potential post-presidential penalties for Trump’s hucksterism

The Federal Trade Commission’s Made in USA Labeling Rule states that “[m]arketers are . . . subject to civil penalties if they use an unqualified Made in USA label on a product that is not “all or virtually all” made in the U.S. . . .” As recently as June 2025, the news source AOL identified 15 products the Trump Store was hawking that were in violation of the labeling rule. If a Democrat were to become president in 2029, his or her appointees to the Federal Trade Commission could seek civil penalties for all of the Trump products that violate this rule.

Successful challenges to the Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity from criminal prosecution

Based on a Wikipedia article on Trump v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled on July 1, 2024 in a 6–3 decision “that presidents have absolute immunity for acts committed as president within their core constitutional purview, at least presumptive immunity for official acts within the outer perimeter of their official responsibility, and no immunity for unofficial acts.”

The court, however, did not go into detail on what constitutes core presidential powers, other official acts, and unofficial acts. These distinctions will be determined in the future by Federal District Courts, U.S. Courts of Appeals and subsequent Supreme Court rulings.

I don’t think it’s far-fetched to suggest that selling merchandise for profit by a sitting president will be considered an “unofficial” act in future court rulings and, therefore, not protected by presidential immunity from criminal prosecution.

Conclusion

Thus, there may be civil penalties and even criminal prosecution for Trump after he leaves the White House as a result of his presidential profiteering. But given the recent rulings by our current Supreme Court that vastly expand the power of a president to do as he or she sees fit while in office, who knows?