If a picture is worth a thousand words, the mug shot of a former president is apparently worth over $7 million.
Donald Trump’s mug shot after he surrendered and was booked at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta on Thursday. Fulton County Sheriff’s Office via Associated Press
President Trump’s mug shot, taken when he was booked last week in Georgia’s Fulton County Jail on his fourth criminal indictment, prompted an explosion in sales toward his presidential reelection campaign, a spokesman said.
Trump’s campaign seized on the history-making photo, capitalizing on its unique earning potential to promote a series of products plastered with the picture. The campaign earned $4.18 million Friday – a record in single-day sales, Trump’s senior advisor, Jason Miller, confirmed Monday. By Saturday evening, Trump had raised $7.1 million, according to his campaign and reporting by Politico.
“It’s an impressive haul, and representative of the grassroots support President Trump has all over the country,” Miller told The Times.
The Times cannot independently verify totals until the campaign reports its earnings to the Federal Elections Commission. The next quarterly report is due Oct. 15.
Trump’s mug shot was released Thursday afternoon shortly after he left the Fulton County Jail. Minutes later, his campaign website uploaded a slew of products featuring the image – including posters, mugs and drink koozies – with prices ranging from a $12 bumper sticker to a $34 T-shirt.
Every item is accompanied by the slogan “Never surrender!” — an ironic title, given that the mug shot was taken as Trump surrendered to local authorities.
Donald Trump Jr. also promoted a line of products featuring his father’s mug shot.
“To be clear all profits from this on my Web Store are going to be donated to the Legal Defense Fund to fight the tyranny & insanity we’re seeing before us,” he wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Trump is the first former U.S. president to be criminally charged and have his mug shot taken. Anticipation for the history-making photo peaked Thursday, with the hashtag #TrumpMugshot trending online even before the photo was released. Trump even returned to X on Thursday for the first time since January 2021 to post the photo of his steely glare and promote his campaign website.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis charged Trump and 18 others two weeks ago, alleging they were involved in a conspiracy to undermine the 2020 presidential election results. All 19 defendants turned themselves in last week, including the president’s former attorneys Rudolph W. Giuliani and John Eastman, as well as his former chief of staff, Mark Meadows.
Willis began investigating after a recording was released in February 2021 of Trump telling Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger during a Jan. 2, 2021, phone call to “find” him 11,780 votes, enough to win in Georgia. Trump has insisted that, as president, he behaved appropriately in making the call.
Trump also is facing felony charges in connection with efforts to stay in office after losing the 2020 election. The federal judge in that case has set his trial date for March 4, the day before the Super Tuesday primaries.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
