Donald Trump's recent spate of making merchandise offers to his rabid MAGA followers, which will put money in his pockets but do nothing for his election prospects, is creating tension with some of his inner circle according to a report from the Washington Post.
On Sunday, the Post's Josh Dawsey and Ashley Parker noted an increase in Trump merchandise the president has been promoting — ranging from shoes to bibles to trading cards — with the election just 58 days away, writing, "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."
That led Don Fox, a former general counsel for the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, to point out, "There’s 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."
That has not gone unnoticed by some of his advisers who are admitting they find the cash grab unseemly, despite knowing the former president's history of cashing in on his name.
According to the WaPo report, "There are advisers and lawyers inside the campaign who say the deals are a little 'slimy,' but 'Trump relishes being able to market his name,' said one campaign adviser, who like some others spoke on the condition of anonymity to reveal internal details."
That same adviser explained, "His general belief is, ‘If I’m going to get attacked and have to pay all these lawyers and deal with everything, I need to make some money off it.'”
The report goes on to point out that the former president has made no secret of his belief that he should be able to continue his gold-digging ways as evidenced by his jacking up the price of a Mar-a-Lago membership — allowing supporters to get physically closer to him — to a whopping $700,000 recently.
The Post is also reporting the former president is also agreeing to deals, sometimes for millions of dollars, without having his lawyers review them first for conflicts of interest.
"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."
That person added, "What he was willing to do depended on how much money he was getting, who was asking and what mood he was in.”
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