Trump Has Slapped His Brand On Images Of The White House To Sell At His Trump Store

[mahatmakanejeeves]

I moved the thread over here. This isn't news. It's also two days old, no matter how breathless HuffPost is about the affair.

POLITICS 03/23/2019 02:52 am ET Updated 10 hours ago
Trump Has Slapped His Brand On Images Of The White House To Sell At His Trump Store
President blurs the line again between his business and government.

By Mary Papenfuss



President Donald Trump has emblazoned the "Trump" brand name on images of the White House to sell in his Trump Store and at the Trump International Hotel in the capital. The products give the bizarre impression that the White House is a Trump hotel.

Walter Shaub, who was director of the Office of Government Ethics in both the Obama and Trump administrations, sharply criticized the products as the latest move to "monetize the presidency" for private gain.

Our corrupt President's hotel, in which he retains a conflicting financial interest, is selling products with the image of the White House on it. I'd say he's monetizing the presidency again, but it's a continuous effort so "again" wouldn't make sense.

Link to tweet

The products among the new "Cherry Blossom Collection" now online bearing the White House image include soap, mugs, a T-shirt and a long-sleeved shirt. A line on the mug, which also includes a drawing of the Trump Hotel, reads simply: "Trump Washington D.C. Building." A line beneath the White House on the T-shirt reads: "Trump Washington D.C."

It's possible that HuffPost is overthinking this. This is part of a collection of kitsch that Trump is marketing. Other well known DC landmarks the Lincoln Memorial and the U.S. Capitol get the same treatment. It's a cherry blossom thing. It's also fake news, as there are no cherry trees in the locations depicted for those landmarks.

In the words of H. L. Mencken, "no one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public."

Celebrate the Cherry Blossoms the Trump Hotel Way
WRITTEN BY BRITTANY SHEPHERD PUBLISHED ON MARCH 21, 2019

[Nevilledog]

1. Disgusting.

[mr_lebowski]

2. Can you imagine if Bara ... oh, f*** it, nevermind (nt)

[BlueStater]

3. This can't possibly be legal.

Yet no one is going to do a goddamn thing about it, as usual.

[MineralMan]

4. Obscene. He is a tenant in that property, not the owner.

We are the owners. We let him live there while he holds the office of President. When he no longer holds that office, he can't live there any longer, and a new tenant moves in.

Presumptuous Asshole!

[Karadeniz]

5. Remember when Trump had medallions made which were of the presidential seal?

They were to be displayed on his golf course. He had to remove them. To me, this is closely related. If the items were for people as a memento of the White House, sold in a White House gift shop to profit the White House, I could easily see the items being sold.

[struggle4progress]

6. "We think of the White House as just another of Trump hotel! Ask about our rates!"

[Initech]

7. Trump is the only president who would install a merch booth at the National Mall because he could.