SVU Trump Crimes: The Big Grift(s)

The man from Mar a Lago’s blatant pandering for personal gain during an election campaign opened a new front this week with the announcement and personal endorsement of $100,000 Trump watches.

Via The New Republic:

• Trump promoted the ugly new merch on Thursday morning, encouraging customers to “Join President Trump’s Watch Community” and “Be a part of history.” 

• The “Trump Victory Tourbillon” watch is for sale for the low price of $100,000 and is available in gold or rose gold. It features “classic sophistication combined with President Trump’s symbol of success: Gold.” The caseback features a personalized thank-you message from Trump himself.

• Alternatively, if you can’t drop that much for a limited-edition watch, you could always grab the much less grand “Fight Fight Fight” watch for $499, including one color in MAGA red. The back of this watch features the image of Trump, post–assassination attempt, with his fist in the sky. The copy of the website reads, “With its timeless design and flexible style, you’re ready for any situation, just like President Trump!”

Unlike the mostly made-in-China tchotchke marketed to rank-and-file deplorables, this product is aimed at a higher class of suckers. Unless it’s just a cover for money laundering, which it is.

At present, there are no actual watches in existence. The co-conspirator/operators of this scheme will use incoming funds to finance the manufacturing of something.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, pay attention. THIS is how you solicit foreign donors.

Let’s start with the ownership of the company selling gold plated and diamond encrusted watches, thebestwatchesonearth LLC was registered (#2024-001496871) in Wyoming (where it’s cheap and easy to do online) by Cloud Peak Law, LLC, the same firm behind the $399 Gold Trump sneakers announced earlier in the year.

Its location, listed with the Wyoming Secretary of State, corresponds with the Google maps location pin for The Royal Honey Shop, an outfit marketing a product claimed to enhance sexual performance.

Some other Trump Victory Tourbillon facts:

• A tourbillon is a mechanism in a watch that rotates the balance wheel, balance spring, and escapement to counteract the effects of gravity and increase accuracy.

• You can pay with bitcoin (hint, hint)

• Foreigners and foreign entities can buy. 

• Photos on site are not the actual watch but “illustrations” of what it might look like, per disclaimer. 

• No guarantee when, or if, the watch will arrive and Trump is not liable for shipping timing, per disclaimer.

• Not suitable for exposure to water

• The applicable warranty does not cover the following: - Case, crystal, strap and buckle or bracelet, stem or crown 

• All sales final, no returns

• “Trump Watches are intended as collectible items for individual enjoyment only, not for investment purposes.”

• “These watches are not political and have nothing to do with any political campaign”

Also “not political” are the Trump Coins, announced recently via a video ad featuring The Man himself doing the sales pitch. These one-troy ounce medallions feature images of the White House, Trump’s signature, and Dear Leader’s face.

RealTrumpCoins.com, lists an “investment disclaimer” on the tokens, warning that they’re intended as “collectible items for individual enjoyment only, and not for investment purposes.” 

They’re on sale for $100 plus shipping. That's more than three times the price of silver, according to APMEX.

Other hustles over the past year have included the sneaker,  NFT trading cards (of himself dressed in superhero costumes and astronaut suits), and limited-edition, $60 God Bless the USA Bibles.  

Then there’s the new cryptocurrency platform headed by sons, Eric and Don Jr., which is off to a rough start. (Eds Note: Crypto is the new Gold Bars for today’s gullible investors)

The Big Bucks move by Trump was taking the parent company of his social media platform Truth Social public. It’s been a disaster for investors as the stock prices fall with new revelations about its majority investor. Co-founder Andy Litinsky has dumped $100 million worth of his stock. 

Via CNN:

• Trump owns 114.75 million shares in Trump Media, according to the most recent filings. That stake was worth $6.2 billion as recently as mid-May. However, Trump Media’s share price has crashed in recent months, sinking earlier this week to record lows.

• Trump’s stake is worth about $1.6 billion based on Thursday’s closing price of $13.98. In after-hours trading, the stock dipped about 1% following news of the share sale.

It’s only fitting to end this post by recalling Sen. Marco Rubio’s quip at a primary season debate that included Donald Trump: 

“If he hadn't inherited $200 million, you know where Donald Trump would be right now? Selling watches in Manhattan.”

 

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Friday Finds in the News World

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With Few Wins to Highlight, House Republicans Head Home to Chase Votes by Annie Karni at The New York Times

• As they head home to make the case to voters for why they deserve to keep their dysfunctional House majority, Republicans have little to point to in terms of accomplishments. Must-pass legislation like raising the debt ceiling and spending bills to avoid ever-looming government shutdowns moved forward slowly, and only because Democrats supplied most of the votes to pass those bills.

• Their investigations into the Biden family failed to implicate the only Biden who mattered, the one who is the sitting president, and did not result in the impeachment many promised their voters two years ago on the campaign trail. Their inquiries became moot anyway, after Mr. Biden said in July that he would not seek re-election.

• Since rising to the speakership last October, Mr. Johnson has had to look over his shoulder and take into account what former President Donald J. Trump and the MAGA members in his conference demand. But those dictates often end up dividing Republican lawmakers, leading to failed votes, muddled messaging and internal power battles that have left Democrats more optimistic about recapturing control of the House in November.

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Coffee prices up as planet warms by LZ Granderson at The Los Angeles Times

• One study estimates that roughly half of the regions where coffee beans are harvested most today won’t be as viable by 2050 due to changes in climate. The good news is other parts of the world will become more favorable for coffee growing.

• But there’s more bad news: The regions that depend most on the coffee industry for their economy are already poor.

• This is perhaps the most immoral aspect of watching members of Congress downplay the impact of melting polar caps or having presidential debates in which the topic of global warming is handled like an afterthought. Developing nations routinely suffer the most from the weather shifts caused by industrialized, wealthier nations like ours. It’s only our distance from so many of the calamities we contribute to that allows so many candidates for public office to adopt gaslighting as an effective political strategy.

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The Data is In: Anti-Trans Legislation is Hurting Kids by Parker Molloy at The Present Age

• Between 2018 and 2022, 48 anti-transgender laws were enacted across 19 states in the U.S. These laws range from restricting access to gender-affirming healthcare to banning trans and non-binary youth from participating in sports aligned with their gender identity. The researchers utilized a difference-in-differences research design—a method often used in economics to determine the impact of policy changes—to estimate the causal effect of these laws on suicide attempts among TGNB young people aged 13–24.

• The findings are nothing short of alarming. For trans and non-binary youth aged 13–17, there was a 7–72% increase in past-year suicide attempts in states that enacted anti-transgender laws relative to states that did not. For the broader age group of 13–24, the increase was 38–44%. These aren't just statistics; they're real lives being affected by legislation that targets some of the most vulnerable members of our society.

• The study found "minimal evidence of an anticipatory effect in the time periods leading up to the enactment of the laws." In plain English, this means that the harm isn't just coming from the debates or the introduction of these bills—it's the actual enactment that's causing the spike in suicide attempts. The laws are the problem.