In the months leading up to Election Day 2024, when Donald Trump was ostensibly focused on his candidacy, the Republican launched a dizzying merchandising campaign, pitching everything from Trump-branded watches to silver Trump commemorative coins, batches of digital trading cards to a weird cryptocurrency project and gold sneakers to Trump-endorsed Bibles.
Even after the president returned to the Oval, those efforts continued with Trump-branded guitars and Trump phones, among other things.
In light just how much the president, his family and his controversial businesses have profited during his second term, it’s tempting to think there’d been no need to pursue yet another merchandising opportunity. After all, as The Atlantic’s David Frum recently explained, Trump has taken self-enrichment “to a scale never seen before in America.”
That assumption, however, would be wrong.
MS NOW’s Jake Traylor and Soorin Kim reported Tuesday that there are Trump-branded “medallions” on sale, tied to this weekend’s UFC event on the White House’s South Lawn.
The souvenir gold and silver coins range in price from $249.99 to $11,999.99. That’s not a typo: A website called RealTrumpCoins.com is actually selling UFC Freedom 250 “medallions” that people can purchase for just under $12,000. (The website boasts that the coins were “designed” by the president himself.)