The (Welcome) Decline of Trump Merchandise

While the revelation that your fixer / lawyer is under FBI investigation is certainly a strong sign that your kakistocracy isn’t going well, another could be a startling lack of enthusiasm surrounding your formerly-valuable, oft-licensed name. As the Washington Post is reporting, basically no one wants to use the Trump name anymore.

“In 2015, Trump listed 19 companies that were paying him to produce or distribute Trump-branded consumer goods,” but now, there’s only two: “a Panamanian company selling Trump bed linens and home goods… [and] a Turkish company selling Trump furniture.”

According to Trump’s financial disclosures, those 19 licensees were “paying him a combined $2.4 million-plus per year,” money he literally just had to stay alive to collect. But in the past three years, licensees — like Republican congressmen — have been jumping ship.

The list of entities that dropped his name off products includes Macy’s, Phillips-Van Heusen, Parlux, Serta mattresses (gross), Downlite pillows (also gross), a throw blanket company (ditto), a sunglasses company, Two Rivers Coffee, and Elk Lighting (who made Trump-branded chandeliers and sconces).

When The Post reached out to the licensees that bailed, they found that some “quit in reaction to campaign-trail rhetoric on immigrants and Muslims. Others said their licensing agreements had expired. Others said nothing beyond confirming that they’d stopped working with Trump,” also noting that remaining Trump inventory is currently on super-duper sale (“One cologne [called “Success by Trump”] is marked down from $42 to $9.99 for an ounce”).

(Side note: There’s a paragraph in this story that begins with the sentence “Trump was a urine test.” If there’s a more accurate, more economical summary of his entire being, I don’t want to know about it.)

You can read more about it at The Washington Post.

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