WASHINGTON—In an attempt to stop U.S. markets from being flooded with foreign-made campaign merchandise and other licensed items promoting his brand, President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday imposing an additional 25% tariff on authorized Trump products made in China.
According to the White House, the new tariff makes good on the president’s long-running promise to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States, in this case by discouraging the Trump Organization’s retail stores from importing goods from China. The hope, advisors said, was that more of the Trump Store’s “45-47” sweaters, star-spangled Trump mugs, Gulf of America hats, and MAGA-themed pickleball equipment would be made on American shores.
“I am fighting back against these garbage and frankly toxic TRUMP products that the Chinese Communist Party is DUMPING on the American people—MUST END NOW!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, claiming that other countries were “ripping off” the United States with their cheap exports of official Trump-brand commemorative coins, “Golden Age of America” T-shirts, leatherette Trump pocket flasks, and ball caps featuring a cartoon eagle that shares the president’s trademark hairstyle. “China ate Biden’s lunch when they overran This Great Land with authentic TRUMP watches, jackets, and water bottles, not to mention faulty TRUMP Bibles, which don’t even include the complete words to ‘God Bless the USA.’ But now the era of shoddy ‘TRUMP 2028’ sneakers that fall apart the second you take them out of the box is OVER!”
“This is the only way to ensure all licensed TRUMP merchandise is made right here in the USA,” Trump continued. “That TRUMP China crap is LOW CLASS JUNK!”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the 25% tariff would go into effect immediately, adding that the president could raise the rate further or even issue a directive prohibiting Chinese container ships full of Trump umbrellas, Make Summer Great Again shot glasses, and gold-toned Trump Mobile smartphones from docking at U.S. ports.
While the administration touted the new policy’s benefits for domestic manufacturing, many economists pointed out that the Trump Store might still choose to import goods from China, because it could simply pay the higher tariffs and pass the expense on to consumers in the form of higher prices. In such a scenario, financial experts said, the rising cost of Trump apparel and other assorted trinkets would hit lower- and middle-income households the hardest.
Lorna Cullins, a medical assistant and three-time Trump voter from Prathersville, MO, acknowledged it wouldn’t be easy to set aside an even greater share of her hard-earned wages for Trump gear, but she said it would be worth it in the long run.
“We’ll make do somehow,” Cullins, 53, told reporters, expressing confidence that the president knew what he was doing. “I’ll have to budget a little more carefully if I’m going to afford the red, white, and blue Trump headscarf I’ve had my eye on, not to mention that faux-diamond-studded MAGA necklace. On the plus side, maybe some of this stuff will be better quality if it’s made in the USA. That Trump-brand ‘Fight Fight Fight’ cologne has been giving my husband a rash.”
“And I can’t hear shit through these China-made Trump earbuds,” she added.
His rhetoric growing more combative as the day wore on, the president wrote on Truth Social that it was “un-American” and “treasonous” to move the production of official Trump merchandise offshore, and he vowed to hunt down the offenders and hold them fully accountable.
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