SHAMELESS

Trump’s Already Using His Mugshot for Merchandise

The “free” shirt, which reads “NEVER SURRENDER,” will be sent to anyone who makes a $47 donation to his 2024 campaign. What are you waiting for?

An adage commonly attributed to revolutionary Karl Liebknecht has him quoted as saying, “For capitalism, war and peace are business and nothing but business.” So it is for Donald Trump, who waited all of about 90 minutes after he departed the Fulton County Jail on Thursday night to begin hawking his criminal mugshot to his followers. The former president’s re-election campaign announced in an email that it would give away a “free” premium cotton t-shirt with Trump’s scowly mugshot printed on it for a measly donation of $47. A caption on the shirt reads “NEVER SURRENDER”—which, of course, is legally and literally what Trump was doing when he had that picture taken. “Patriot,” the email begins, “The Deep State is trying to turn President Trump into Public Enemy $1 for daring to challenge the corrupt political ruling class in Washington, D.C. They’ve now even forced him to take an official MUGSHOT to make him look like a criminal in front of the entire world.” The message goes on to assert, in all caps, that “President Trump will never surrender our mission to make America great again!” And anyone hankering for a mugshot shirt who doesn’t have a spare $47 lying around can trot on over to Etsy, where some enterprising craftsperson has already designed a version of the same shirt (sans caption) for $19.75.