Donald Trump made an appearance at Sneaker Con in Philadelphia on Saturday to announce a new website that sells Trump-branded sneakers for as much as $400. But if you take a close look at the fine print, this isn’t part of Trump’s effort to become president again. It’s purely a way for Trump to make money as a businessman.
Trump’s relatively short speech at Sneaker Con was given on stage with banners that included the URL for his new website, GetTrumpSneakers.com, as well as a QR code. The website only went live today, according to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.
Curiously, each page has its own disclaimer, like the $400 gold sneakers that warn, “The images shown are for illustration purposes only and may not be an exact representation of the product.”
The Trump fan on a budget could spend $200 to get red or white sneakers emblazoned with “45,” a reference to Trump being the 45th president of the United States. The website is also selling Trump-branded cologne and perfume for $100. Humorously, the site warns there’s a “strict limit” of just three pairs of shoes per customer.
The fine print gets really interesting on the homepage of Trump’s new sneaker website, which stresses that Trump essentially has nothing to do with the shoes aside from lending them his name:
Trump and the associated design are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of CIC Ventures LLC. Trump Sneakers are not designed, manufactured, distributed or sold by Donald J. Trump, The Trump Organization or any of their respective affiliates or principals.
The site also includes a rather amusing image of Trump that appears to be poorly photoshopped.
Why is Trump launching sneakers? That part isn’t clear, though the former president has released a number of different products over the years, including everything from bottled water to steaks. Most are no longer produced. But Trump also appears to have some allies in the sneaker community. In fact, the president of Sneaker Con, Alan Vinogradov, has donated to Trump’s 2024 campaign, according to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
But anyone who watched the livestream of Trump’s announcement on Saturday would be forgiven for thinking it looked like a campaign rally. Trump even came onstage to the song “God Bless the USA” by Lee Greenwood, something he’s been doing for years at his campaign rallies.
“I’ve wanted to do this for a long time. I have some incredible people who work with me on things and they come up with this and this is something I’ve been talking about for 12 years, 13 years…” Trump told the Sneaker Con audience.
Trump also invited a woman onstage who was wearing a Trump 2024 shirt, letting her ramble on about how great he was and how everyone needed to vote for him.
“We need him,” the woman said from the stage, pointing at Trump. “He’s a Christian, he’s a good honest man. They’re after him for no reason.”
The woman appeared to be referring to the fact that Trump faces 91 charges in four criminal cases, including charges over his attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 election by instructing a mob to descend on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 so that he could remain in power. The insurrection effectively ended America’s long streak of peaceful transfers of power.
Trump himself refrained from explicitly urging people to vote in the 2024 election at the sneaker event on Saturday, probably because making such an event an unofficial rally would have campaign finance implications.
The Biden campaign ridiculed Trump’s new business venture with a reference to sneakers on Saturday, though didn’t take the opportunity to point out how this was an obvious cash-grab by the former president, who found out on Friday he owes $438 million to the state of New York.
“Donald Trump showing up to hawk bootleg Off-Whites is the closest he’ll get to any Air Force Ones ever again for the rest of his life,” Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler said in an emailed statement on Saturday.
