Former U.S. President Donald J. Trump and his associates are endeavoring to maximize the use of his mugshot, captured in Georgia on Thursday night after his indictment on racketeering charges, to generate funds for his campaign and his legal trials.
Trump, who has been indicted four times since March, makes history as the first U.S. president whose mugshot has been taken – a development he admitted not to have enjoyed.
“It is not a comfortable feeling — especially when you’ve done nothing wrong,” he told Fox News’s website in an interview.
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The mugshot generated a media frenzy as it marks the first face of a U.S. president being booked for a criminal offense.
A mugshot is a photographic depiction of an individual’s upper body, usually captured following their arrest. The primary intent behind capturing mug shots was to provide law enforcement with photographic documentation of the arrested person, aiding in their identification by victims, the general public, and investigators.
However, Trump and his campaign organization have shared the mugshot on the internet – hoping to cash in on the frenzy that it is generating. It was prominently featured on Trump’s campaign website, under a “personal message from President Donald J. Trump.” At the page’s bottom, there were multiple clickable tabs enabling users to contribute to his campaign through small-dollar donations
Furthermore, Trump promptly shared the image on X, marking his return to the platform formerly known as Twitter, where he hasn’t been banned for two years. The former president was permanently suspended by the company’s former ownership in the aftermath of the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.
The mugshot on X has so far garnered more than 200 million views.
https://t.co/MlIKklPSJT pic.twitter.com/Mcbf2xozsY
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 25, 2023
Trump has consistently embraced chances to extract financial gain from the events and developments in his life and career. Now backed by a throng of supporters, he is pushing the mugshot to generate money for his campaign and legal battles.
Having raised several millions of dollars after his March indictment in New York, where he faced charges linked to hush-money payments to a porn actress, Trump is in need of replenishing his defense fund. This is particularly crucial as additional charges have been levied against him in the interim. For example, in June, the Justice Department’s special counsel, Jack Smith, filed charges against Trump for mishandling national security documents.
The joint fundraising platform managed by his campaign swiftly began providing mugs, beverage coolers, and T-shirts of various colors and sizes, all featuring his mug shot along with the phrase, “Never Surrender!” Although he surrendered to the authorities in Georgia, he has been using the phrase believed to indicate defiance.
Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of Trump, shared a link on X leading to his personal website showcasing merchandise featuring the photo. He mentioned that the proceeds from the sales would be contributed to a legal defense fund established by his father’s advisors, vowing not to profit from it.
Free Trump Merch! 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. Unlike many, I won’t try to profit from this but will do what I can to help. https://t.co/qUQDGg2wAB pic.twitter.com/dm6wL3Mf29
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) August 25, 2023
Following the release of the mugshot, sales of Trump’s NFT trading cards experienced a dramatic surge. Data from Cryptoslam.io indicates an astonishing 426% increase in his digital card sales within a mere 24-hour period.
The New York Times reported that by Friday afternoon, the Trump campaign had dispatched an email campaign containing the photo along with Trump’s booking number.
The report further noted that even before the capture of the mug shot at the Atlanta jail, an email dispatched from his collaborative fundraising committee set the stage for his supporters by conveying the following message: “It’s been reported that if I am unjustly indicted and arrested in the Atlanta Witch Hunt, a mug shot will be taken of me.”
Demonstrating how politically valuable the mug shot is to the Trump campaign’s fundraising efforts, one of Trump’s prominent advisors, Chris LaCivita, issued a cautionary statement on social media. He accompanied his message with 11 siren emojis, issuing a stern warning to any political entities that could potentially seek to profit from the photo by implying a connection to the Trump campaign.
???????????
If you are a campaign, PAC , scammer and you try raising money off the mugshot of @realDonaldTrump and you have not received prior permission …WE ARE COMING AFTER YOU you will NOT SCAM DONORS— Chris LaCivita (@LaCivitaC) August 25, 2023
Campaign officials have not made the fund-raising figures public, but it’s clear – like in other cases – that Trump will rake in millions of dollars in legal defense and campaign funds through the mugshot.