The president let off some steam from waging an unauthorized war and unleashing Truth Social tirades by playing dress-up in his gold-laden Oval Office.
Trump met with the 2025 World Champions of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) and the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) on Friday. During the meeting, the cowboy hat company Resistol, the official hat for the PRCA, presented the president with a pricey piece of headwear.
The exchange was captured on video and posted to X by White House communications advisor Margo Martin. In the clip, a company representative presented the president with a $10,000 Resistol 1776 hat, a limited edition accessory commemorating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
In the video, the representative tells the president that the hat is his size, so Trump tries it on, eliciting cheers from his visitors. Before Trump puts the hat on, the representative tells the room that the words of the Constitution line the hat, drawing a round of “oohs.”
“As the Official Hat of the PRCA, Resistol was honored to present the President a Resistol 1776 hat, alongside the 2025 PRCA World Champions,” the company later said in a Facebook post.
Trump has been scrutinized for his expensive taste, including his eye-watering $400 million White House ballroom project. Naturally, he’d be drawn to this hat, which combines two of his top priorities: gold and the 250th anniversary of the United States.
The Resistol 1776 is adorned with a 10K gold American flag pin encrusted with a single diamond. It has a second 10k gold band slider with 13 diamonds representing the original colonies. The liner is printed with the preamble for the U.S. Constitution. There are only 250 hats available, and Trump received the first one.
People weren’t thrilled about the cowboy cosplay, with some critics voicing their disdain on X.
“Now the term mad hatter seems perfect,” one person wrote on X.
“People can’t afford gas, but are supposed to be hyped he wore a hat,” another said.
Trump also played cowboy when the 1980 U.S. men’s hockey team, which won gold at the Olympics during the “Miracle on Ice,” came to visit him last December. He had signed off on legislation awarding the team with congressional gold medals. For the event, he sported a giant white cowboy hat.
Hats are a signature part of the president’s wardrobe, with his red MAGA cap being the most notorious example of this. Lately, he’s been opting for a white-and-gold USA hat that’s available to purchase on his merch website.
That particular cap caught Trump some flak after the commander-in-chief put the gaudy, gold-accented hat on for the dignified transfer of six U.S. service members on March 7. Many people found the move to be tasteless, especially since he is selling the headgear on his website for $55. He leveraged that appearance for his dead soldiers into a fundraising opportunity this week.
The six service members, all part of the 103rd Sustainment Command, were killed by an Iranian strike in Kuwait on March 1. They were Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35; Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39; Sgt. Declan J. Coady, 20; Major Jeffrey R. O’Brien, 45; and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert M. Marzan, 54.
As Trump met with the rodeo champions and tried on $10,000 hats on Friday night, the president’s unauthorized war continued. On Friday, the U.S. struck Kharg Island in Iran, which reportedly handles 90 percent of the country’s crude oil.
Hours after dressing the cowboy photo ops, Trump wrote on Truth Social in part, “at my direction, the United States Central Command executed one of the most powerful bombing raids in the History of the Middle East, and totally obliterated every MILITARY target in Iran’s crown jewel, Kharg Island.”
The U.S. has suffered more casualties since it began its military operations in Iran on Feb. 28. The death toll of American soldiers has risen to 13, while over 2,000 people in the Middle East have been killed.
