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Philadelphia, February 18
As he closes in on the Republican presidential nomination, former President Donald Trump made a highly unusual stop on Saturday, hawking new Trump-branded sneakers at ‘Sneaker Con’, a gathering that bills itself as ‘The Greatest Sneaker Show on Earth’.
Trump was met with loud boos as well as cheers at the Philadelphia Convention Center as he introduced what he called the first official Trump footwear.
The shoes, gold lame high tops with an American flag detail on the back, are being sold as ‘Never Surrender High-Tops’ for USD 399 on a new website that also sells Trump-branded ‘Victory47’ cologne and perfume for USD 99 a bottle. He’d be the 47th president if elected again.
The website says it has no connection to Trump’s campaign, though Trump campaign officials promoted the appearance in online posts.
On Friday, a judge in New York ordered Trump to pay a whopping USD 355 million in penalties, finding that the former president lied about his wealth for years, scheming to dupe banks, insurers, and others by inflating his wealth on financial statements.
That penalty came after Trump was ordered to pay USD 83.3 million to the writer E Jean Carroll for damaging her reputation after she accused him of sexual assault. With interest payments, Trump’s legal debts might now exceed a half-billion dollars — an amount which is unclear whether he can afford to pay.
Trump’s appearance was met with clashing boos from his detractors and chants of “USA!” from supporters who arrived at the sneaker event decked out in Trump gear. The duelling chants made it difficult, at times, to hear Trump speak. Some held signs that read ‘SNEAKERHEADS LOVE TRUMP’.
“There’s a lot of emotion in this room,” Trump said of the reaction, after holding up and showing off a pair of gold shoes, then placing one on each side of his podium.
“This is something that I’ve been talking about for 12-13 years,” he said.
As he spoke, the smell of weed occasionally wafted through the room.
Some of those who attended said they were unaware Trump would be there and continued to shop as a crowd gathered around the stage. Many in the audience said they were not from the city and instead hailed from nearby states and Washington.
The attendees skewed younger and more diverse than Trump’s usual rally crowds. Trump’s campaign is hoping he will be able to win over younger and minority voters, particularly young Black men, in a likely rematch against President Joe Biden in November.
This isn’t the first money-making venture Trump has announced since launching his third campaign for the White House in 2022. Trump last year reported making between USD 1,00,000 and USD 1 million for a series of digital trading cards that portrayed him, through photo editing, in a series of cartoon-like images, including an astronaut, a cowboy, and a superhero.
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