Tuesday, March 26, 2024
Year : 2, Issue : 13
Donald Trump on Tuesday started promoting a line of pricey Bibles in a partnership with country music star Lee Greenwood, whose song “God Bless the U.S.A.” is omnipresent at the former president’s political rallies.
“All Americans need a Bible in their home, and I have many,” Trump said in a video on Truth Social announcing the business deal.
The “God Bless the U.S.A. Bible” costs $59.99, not including shipping and other fees. For that money, buyers get a range of extra features not typically included in run-of-the-mill Bibles.
The Trump-Greenwood Bible, a King James translation, includes a copy of a “handwritten chorus” to the eponymous Greenwood hit, according to the website.
It also includes the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence and the Pledge of Allegiance, the site says.
It’s the “only Bible” endorsed by either Trump or Greenwood, the site proclaims. And, it adds, it’s “the ONLY Bible inspired by America’s most recognized patriotic anthem, God Bless The USA.”
The partnership comes at an especially turbulent moment for Trump’s finances.
The presumptive Republican nominee has recently seen his net worth explode by billions of dollars, following a successful merger allowing his media company to publicly trade on the NASDAQ.
But he can’t cash in on his stake in that company for months. In the meantime, he has just days to put up $175 million for an appeal bond that will stop the state of New York from enforcing a $454 million civil fraud judgment against him.
Trump is also fighting other hefty civil judgments, including a federal jury verdict ordering him to pay $83.3 million for defaming writer E. Jean Carroll after she accused the former president of raping her years earlier.
Trump’s political fundraising operation, meanwhile, is falling far behind the campaign of his rival, Democratic incumbent President Joe Biden. Trump said Monday that he “might” put his own money into his White House bid.
The website selling the Trump-backed Bibles specifies that none of its proceeds will go toward the Trump campaign. The site says it “is not political and has nothing to do with any political campaign.” Rather, it says it is licensed by CIC Ventures to use Trump’s name, likeness and image.
Trump’s 2023 financial disclosure shows he has made more than $5 million in speaking engagements through CIC Ventures.
Source: CNBC
