[link removed] [[link removed]] John,
In the week before President Trump’s tariff threats set off a massive economic downturn, he was busy applying for two trademarks under his name.
One of the trademarks Trump applied for was related to a new business venture that seems to be targeted at merchandising the presidency through virtual reality and NFT trading platforms and another was to renew his trademark on Trump: The Game.
Let’s just get this out of the way up front: No, it’s not normal for a president to apply for trademarks from his own administration. It’s actually a massive conflict of interest.
It could be easy for this kind of news to get lost as Trump’s administration careens from one scandal and unconstitutional scheme to another, but CREW is committed to tracking all of Trump’s conflicts of interest, and we’re not letting them slip by without accountability.
If you support this kind of painstaking research and investigative work, thank you. We need people paying attention to these stories and helping fund our work. If you can, please consider making a donation to fund our next investigations today → [[link removed]]If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your tax deductible donation will go through immediately to ActBlue Charities Inc. and be disbursed to CREW within 30 days:
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The first trademark application covers virtual handbags, VR headsets, “downloadable image files of Donald J. Trump authenticated by non-fungible tokens (NFTs)", "[v]irtual training services in the field of public service, civics, hotel management, construction and hospitality", "[s]imulated transport by limousine” and much more.
The second is for “TRUMP THE GAME” and appears to be renewing a longstanding trademark on Trump’s “finance and real estate skill based” board game.
Beyond the obvious conflict of interest at play, there’s something that makes it even thornier:
Former USPTO Commissioner for Trademarks David Gooder finished his five year term on February 28, which means Trump’s Secretary of Commerce will be tasked with nominating a head for the agency as it considers Trump’s trademark applications.
Could approving Trump’s trademarks be part of a loyalty test for the next leader of the agency?
When the president applies for trademarks for games and crypto ventures within his first hundred days in office, after failing to divest from his existing extensive business interests, it raises questions about where his priorities lie.
Is Trump focused on serving the American people, or on making as much money as he can?
We’re going to call it out, whenever and wherever we see Trump putting his business interests over serving the American people. Fuel our work with a donation today → [[link removed]]If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your tax deductible donation will go through immediately to ActBlue Charities Inc. and be disbursed to CREW within 30 days:
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