Donald Trump started hawking new Trump-branded electric guitars last week, billed as “the ONLY guitars endorsed by President Donald J. Trump!” The guitars look like they’re in the style of Gibson-brand Les Paul, but there have been widespread questions on social media about who actually produces these guitars and where they’re made. One thing we know for sure? They’re not official Gibson guitars, because 16 Creative, the company behind Trump Guitars, just got sent a cease and desist letter for copying its design.
First reported by Guitar World the cease and desist letter reportedly alleges the design of the Trump guitars “infringes upon Gibson’s exclusive trademarks, particularly the iconic Les Paul body shape.” Gibson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
Priced at anywhere from $1,500 to $11,500, the Trump guitars will cost a pretty penny for aspiring fascist guitar-slingers, but maybe they’re just really nice, right? Well, the information on the Trump Guitar website is pretty opaque, to say the least.
“All of the guitars featured on GetTrumpGuitars.com were custom designed and developed by a veteran-owned company with the help of a master luthier,” the website reads. “These guitars have been manufactured by multiple providers and include parts/features that are both domestic and international. This is standard with most guitar manufacturers.”
Trump, a white supremacist who’s pledged to be a dictator on his first day back in office, slaps his name on an endless variety of products, from sneakers to Bibles. And it appears that the once and future president will make no effort to hide his money-making schemes during his second term. Previously, it was considered both uncouth and illegal for presidents to profit from their positions in the White House. But laws are fake and Trump has made clear he’s willing to break any norm in existence to make a buck.
But Trump’s profit-seeking seems almost small-potatoes compared to what he has planned for next year. The top of his agenda is a mass deportation plan that’s sure to tear families apart, just as he did during his first four years. Trump has also promised to institute a tariff scheme that most economists assume will hurt the average consumer financially and probably create wild levels of inflation. And that’s before you even get into areas like health care, where anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been nominated to the Department of Health and Human Services, with TV medicine man Dr. Oz leading the agency that oversees Medicare and Medicaid.
Trump’s fans, which apparently make up 49% of the voting public, are likely to not only embrace his fascist agenda but keep throwing millions of dollars his way. Trump Guitars are probably just the start of this new era where the wealthy president gets to do whatever he wants without consequence.
The company behind Trump Guitars didn’t respond to a request for comment submitted through its website. Gizmodo will update this post if we hear back.
