Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Trump Launches a New Business Venture During His Campaign: $100,000 Watches
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 months ago on
September 26, 2024

Trump's latest venture, diamond-encrusted watches, adds to his growing list of campaign-era branded products. (AP/Seth Wenig)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

He’s sold Bibles, sneakers, photo books and cryptocurrency during his third campaign for president. Now, Donald Trump is launching a new business venture: diamond-encrusted watches.

The Republican presidential candidate unveiled the “Official Trump Watch Collection” on Thursday. The most expensive, listed as including 122 diamonds on its bezel and available in three 18-karat gold styles, costs $100,000. Another “Fight Fight Fight” model is listed at $499.

Blending Politics and Business

Trump has hawked a series of branded products since he launched his 2024 White House campaign, following his long tradition of melding his political and business interests. Thursday’s launch, coming 40 days before Election Day, could open him up to criticism about monetizing his campaign, particularly as he makes an argument that Vice President Kamala Harris is out of touch with Americans’ economic struggles.

While websites for the various products note that proceeds from their sales do not directly benefit Trump or his campaign, they also note that each is subject to a “paid license agreement.” That’s the same mechanism that allowed Trump, well before he entered politics, to profit for years from sales of everything from water, vodka and steaks.

A History of Branded Products

Earlier this week, he announced the sale of $100 silver coins bearing his face. In March, ahead of Easter, Trump released a video on Truth Social urging his supporters to spend $59.99 for a “God Bless the USA Bible,” inspired by country singer Lee Greenwood’s patriotic ballad. Trump takes the stage to the song at each of his rallies and has appeared with Greenwood at events.

In February, he hawked new Trump-branded sneakers at “Sneaker Con,” a gathering that bills itself as the “The Greatest Sneaker Show on Earth.” The shoes, shiny gold high tops with an American flag detail on the back, are being sold as “Never Surrender High-Tops” for $399 on a new website that also sells other Trump-branded shoes and “Victory47” cologne and perfume for $99 a bottle.

Trump has also dabbled in NFTs, or nonfungible tokens, and last year reported earning between $100,000 and $1 million from a series of digital trading cards that portrayed him in cartoon-like images, including as an astronaut, a cowboy and a superhero.

Licensing Agreements and Legal Disclaimers

Some of those items, including the coins, sneakers and Bibles, were listed as affiliated with CIC Ventures LLC, a company that Trump reported owning in his 2023 financial disclosure, has a similar arrangement with 45Footwear, which also says it uses Trump’s “name, likeness and image under paid license from CIC Ventures LLC, which license may be terminated or revoked according to its terms.”

The items have gone up for sale in the wake of a $489 million civil fraud judgment against the former president, which a New York appellate court on Thursday appeared to be open to reducing or reversing.

According to a disclaimer on a sales website, the watches are covered by a similar agreement to license Trump’s name, image and likeness, and proceeds from their sales do not go to Trump’s campaign or the Trump Organization and “are not designed, manufactured, distributed or sold by Donald J. Trump, The Trump Organization or any of their respective affiliates or principals.”

Instead, TheBestWatchesonEarth LLC — the company listed as the sales entity — says it uses the “‘Trump’ name, image and likeness under a paid license agreement which may be terminated or revoked according to its terms. Trump Watches are intended as collectible items for individual enjoyment only, not for investment purposes.”

 

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Fresno State Alum Davante Adams Returns to California, Signs with Rams

DON'T MISS

Small Earthquake Rattles Southern California

DON'T MISS

Tribes and Students Sue Trump Administration Over Firings at Native Schools

DON'T MISS

A Single-Engine Plane Crashes Near a Pennsylvania Airport. All 5 Aboard Are Taken to Hospitals.

DON'T MISS

Secret Service Shoots Armed Man Near the White House

DON'T MISS

Super Bowl Stars Josh Sweat and Milton Williams Headline a List of NFL Free Agents

DON'T MISS

ICE Arrests Palestinian Activist Who Helped Lead Columbia University Protests

DON'T MISS

Ex-Central Banker Mark Carney to Become Canada’s Next Prime Minister

DON'T MISS

Israel Cuts off Electricity Supply to Gaza, Affecting a Desalination Plant Producing Drinking Water

DON'T MISS

Tens of Thousands of Mexicans Rally With President to Celebrate US Decision to Delay Tariffs

UP NEXT

Small Earthquake Rattles Southern California

UP NEXT

Tribes and Students Sue Trump Administration Over Firings at Native Schools

UP NEXT

A Single-Engine Plane Crashes Near a Pennsylvania Airport. All 5 Aboard Are Taken to Hospitals.

UP NEXT

Secret Service Shoots Armed Man Near the White House

UP NEXT

Super Bowl Stars Josh Sweat and Milton Williams Headline a List of NFL Free Agents

UP NEXT

ICE Arrests Palestinian Activist Who Helped Lead Columbia University Protests

UP NEXT

Ex-Central Banker Mark Carney to Become Canada’s Next Prime Minister

UP NEXT

Israel Cuts off Electricity Supply to Gaza, Affecting a Desalination Plant Producing Drinking Water

UP NEXT

Tens of Thousands of Mexicans Rally With President to Celebrate US Decision to Delay Tariffs

UP NEXT

Mystery Solved? A Submerged Car From the 1950s May Belong to a Missing Oregon Family

A Single-Engine Plane Crashes Near a Pennsylvania Airport. All 5 Aboard Are Taken to Hospitals.

8 hours ago

Secret Service Shoots Armed Man Near the White House

8 hours ago

Super Bowl Stars Josh Sweat and Milton Williams Headline a List of NFL Free Agents

8 hours ago

ICE Arrests Palestinian Activist Who Helped Lead Columbia University Protests

8 hours ago

Ex-Central Banker Mark Carney to Become Canada’s Next Prime Minister

8 hours ago

Israel Cuts off Electricity Supply to Gaza, Affecting a Desalination Plant Producing Drinking Water

8 hours ago

Tens of Thousands of Mexicans Rally With President to Celebrate US Decision to Delay Tariffs

9 hours ago

Mystery Solved? A Submerged Car From the 1950s May Belong to a Missing Oregon Family

16 hours ago

A Day of Trump-Musk Cost-Cutting Overhauls Federal Government

17 hours ago

Traveling Abroad? If You’re Paying With Dollars, Your Trip Is on Sale.

1 day ago

Fresno State Alum Davante Adams Returns to California, Signs with Rams

LOS ANGELES — Receiver Davante Adams agreed to terms on a two-year deal with the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, bringing the three-time All-Pro...

7 hours ago

7 hours ago

Fresno State Alum Davante Adams Returns to California, Signs with Rams

The aftermath of the Palisades fire, in Malibu, Calif., Jan. 17, 2025. Residents of parts of Los Angeles County on Sunday afternoon felt a minor earthquake centered west of Malibu, Calif. and preliminary estimates showed that the quake had a magnitude of 4.1, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. (Mark Abramson/The New York Times)
7 hours ago

Small Earthquake Rattles Southern California

A "Justice for HINU” sign rests at the base of a statue on the lawn at the entrance of Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas, Feb. 25, 2025. A group of Native American tribes and students is suing the Trump administration to reverse its recent firing of federal workers at Native schools that they said has severely lowered their quality of education. (Chase Castor/The New York Times)
7 hours ago

Tribes and Students Sue Trump Administration Over Firings at Native Schools

First responders work the scene after a plane crashed in the parking lot of a retirement community in Manheim Township, Pa., Sunday, March 9, 2025. (Logan Gehman/LNP/LancasterOnline via AP)
8 hours ago

A Single-Engine Plane Crashes Near a Pennsylvania Airport. All 5 Aboard Are Taken to Hospitals.

The White House in Washington, Feb. 6, 2025. The Secret Service shot a man near the White House early Sunday around midnight on Saturday after an “armed confrontation” with law enforcement officers, the agency said in a statement. (Eric Lee/The New York Times)
8 hours ago

Secret Service Shoots Armed Man Near the White House

Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Josh Sweat (19) reacts after sacking Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes during the first half of the NFL Super Bowl 59 football game, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP/Matt Slocum)
8 hours ago

Super Bowl Stars Josh Sweat and Milton Williams Headline a List of NFL Free Agents

Student negotiator Mahmoud Khalil is on the Columbia University campus in New York at a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on April 29, 2024. (AP File)
8 hours ago

ICE Arrests Palestinian Activist Who Helped Lead Columbia University Protests

Liberal Party of Canada leadership candidate Mark Carney delivers a speech as he's introduced during the Liberal leadership announcement in Ottawa, Ontario, Sunday, March 9, 2025. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)
8 hours ago

Ex-Central Banker Mark Carney to Become Canada’s Next Prime Minister

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend