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It’s not a secret that Donald Trump’s finances are a bit of a mess. As a Washington Post analysis summarized, the former Republican president “is in a cash crunch — personally and politically — and has been unafraid throughout his career to put the Trump name on anything that might yield a stream of revenue.”
That analysis was published in March. The problem is vastly worse now. New York magazine reported:
With fewer than 45 days until Election Day and polls showing an extremely tight presidential race, you might think that both candidates would be laser-focused on laying out their vision for America and turning out voters. But instead, Donald Trump took time out of his schedule to hawk a silver Trump commemorative coin. Trump brought late-night TV infomercial vibes to his social-media channels over the weekend with a video advertising his latest venture.”
I’ve seen plenty of cringeworthy merchandising pitches from the Republican candidate, but this one, promoted by way of his social media platform, was practically a caricature of itself.
“I’ve seen a lot of coins out there using my very beautiful face — I’m a very beautiful guy,” Trump declared in the video. “I’m only kidding! But they are not the official coin.”
All of this came just days after the GOP nominee launched a new family cryptocurrency project — the details of which he did not appear to understand — while partnering with two little-known crypto entrepreneurs, one of whom described himself as “the dirtbag of the internet.” (The other taught classes on how to seduce women.)
But as striking as those details are, it’s important to emphasize a dynamic that Americans have simply never seen before: With six weeks remaining before Election Day, the Republican Party’s nominee for the nation’s highest office keeps careening from one money-making scheme to another.
It’s tempting to describe this as weird.
Some might see Trump’s silver coin gambit and think he’s trying to raise money for his campaign. He’s not. This merchandising opportunity is wholly unrelated to his 2024 political operation.
And that, in and of itself, is extraordinary. As a New York Times report noted last week, “It’s highly unusual for a presidential candidate to embark on a new business just weeks before Election Day.” Indeed, there’s simply no precedent for anything like this in the American tradition.
The silver coin and crypto gambits — two ventures that would appear to contradict each other — come on the heels of Trump selling batches of digital trading cards, which made the candidate look like a two-bit carnival huckster but also reinforced the larger pattern. It includes the gold sneakers. And the Trump-endorsed Bible. And the fake university. And the board game. And the steaks.
We’re talking about a politician who appears to meander from one get-rich-quick opportunity to the next, without much regard for merit or dignity.
A Washington Post report added earlier this month, “No presidential candidate has ever so closely linked his election with personal for-profit enterprises, selling a staggering array of merchandise.” What’s more, the Trump company website “also sells a variety of political merchandise at higher prices than his campaign charges for the same items.”
The article quoted Don Fox, former general counsel for the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, who said, “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.”
To date, no one in Republican politics has even tried to present a compelling defense for any of this.
This post updates our related earlier coverage.