Trump is selling pieces of the suit he wore during arrest for $5,000. Who is buying?

Former US president Donald Trump is embarked on a new business hustle – selling little cut-out pieces of a suit he wore during one of his arrests. In August 2023, he became the first US president to appear for a mugshot after he turned himself in at an Atlanta jail, wearing a navy blue suit and a red tie. In the immediate wake of his arrest, he called it a “very sad day for America,” yet he is now making capitalising on the mugshot’s popularity. “It’s a great suit, believe me, a really good suit. It’s all cut up, and you’re gonna get a piece of it,” he described in a Truth Social video. Here’s all we know about a unique marketing strategy. Trump’s “priceless” blue suit on sale Trump, who is seeking nomination for the 2024 presidential elections, displaying a frown, was photographed for a mugshot taken on 24 August 2023 in an Atlanta jail. To buy a piece of the suit, people first have to buy 47 NFT or non-fungible tokens “digital trading cards,” priced at $99 each. The cards, produced by NFT INT LLC under a licensing agreement with Trump, feature cartoon versions of Trump in various heroic poses, according to The Guardian. In the snippets, Trump is seen seated in Abraham Lincoln’s chair at the Lincoln Memorial and is seen sporting a white cowboy hat over an illustration of several galloping horses. In one card, he is shown in front of the US Capitol with blue lightning bolts. Trump joked, “They give me muscles where, believe me, I don’t have them.” One of the 2,024 pieces of Trump’s suit will be given to those who purchase 47 digital cards; some of the cards come with autographs. Troy Kinunen, president of MEARS, a sports memorabilia authenticator, attested to the suit’s legitimacy. Speaking particularly to the social media age of today, he called the suit “the most historically significant artefact in the United States history.” He highlighted its “priceless” worth, the report said.  A dinner at Mar-a-Lago Additionally, the offer includes 200 limited-edition $9,900 “VIP Tickets” for a black-tie-optional dinner at Mar-a-Lago, which can only be obtained by purchasing 100 cards at once and paying with cryptocurrencies, as per The Times of India. The report added there will be about 800 guests for the gala dinner, and everyone who attends must cover their own expenses, such as travel and accommodation. As per Business Insider, there’s a chance that Trump might be unable to attend the event. “In the event President Trump is unable to attend the Bonus Gala Dinner,” or the dinner cannot happen for any other reason, “then we may reschedule the Bonus Gala Dinner or individuals who qualified for the Bonus Gala Dinner will be awarded a limited edition Trump NFT in lieu thereof, as determined by us in our sole discretion,” according to the terms. The offer claims that the promotion is not politically motivated and that it circumvents federal campaign financing laws by offering a rare chance to speak with a former president and prospective presidential candidate. Caution Regardless, anybody looking to purchase a suit should exercise caution. Business Insider reported that the fine print on Collect Trump Cards included a disclaimer stating that buyers will be forced to accept a “limited edition Trump NFT” in the event that delivery of the suit “cannot be fulfilled due to an issue in the manufacturing, production, or delivery.” “In the event the Bonus Physical Card cannot be fulfilled due to an issue in the manufacturing, production, or delivery on the Bonus Physical Cards, individuals who qualified for the Bonus Physical Card will be awarded a limited edition Trump NFT in lieu thereof, as determined by us in our sole discretion,” the terms and conditions say. Monetising the mugshot This is Trump’s debut into the fabric sales industry. [caption id=“attachment_13503462” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] T-shirts and hats with an image depicting the mugshot of former President Donald Trump are pictured at the Y-Que printing store in Los Angeles, California. Reuters[/caption] He already made money off of the mugshot: coffee mugs, T-shirts, and Christmas stockings with the picture are available for purchase on his campaign website. The products’ tagline read, “NEVER SURRENDER.” Notably, the former President has sold three sets of cards. He made about $4.4 million from the sale of a batch of 45,000 cards in December of last year. Forbes claimed that he made between $100,000 and $1 million from the transactions. “The people that are buying these Trump digital trading cards are new friends of mine, more than anything else,” he is quoted as saying on the NFT website. His campaign reportedly raised almost $4 million in a single day after his booking in Georgia, setting a primary cycle record, reported TOI. The mugshot is related to charges against Trump, who has entered a not guilty plea, over allegedly plotting to reverse his Georgia election defeat in 2020. He asserted that the case is a part of a political witch hunt.