Inflation has hit a new group of goods: Trump merch

As American consumers continue to battle a cost of living crisis that has made everything from groceries to fuel more expensive, new analysis has found that the price of official Donald Trump merchandise is soaring too.Trump returned to office pledging a new “golden age” but, with inflation still stubbornly high at 3.7 percent and the Iran war driving up gas prices, only a minority of voters appear to believe he has delivered. The latest pre-midterms poll from The Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos put the president’s approval rating at just 33 percent and found that 37 percent of the public would rather see a Democrat in charge of the economy.A survey by The Washington Sun, using the WayBack Machine to review archived webpages, has now found that the cost of a red MAGA cap, one of the icons of Trump’s political project, has risen from $25 during his first presidential campaign a decade ago to $55 now – a 120 percent rise. As recently as the 2024 election, when they were retailing for $40, Trump campaign officials were telling The Independent they had shipped more than 2 million hats as people cheerily declared their support for the Republican when he ran against Kamala Harris.The cost of President Donald Trump’s official merchandise range has climbed with inflation, with his signature red MAGA cap now 120 percent more expensive than it was a decade ago (AFP/Getty)However, in August this year, former GOP congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene claimed the cap was inadvertently becoming a symbol of the president’s waning popularity, observing on X: “I can’t remember the last time I saw someone wearing a MAGA hat or Trump shirt.” The president has long shown a willingness to slap his name on everything from golden hi-top sneakers to watches, digital trading cards, guitars and even Bibles – with varying degrees of success – and the red MAGA cap is not the only item whose price tag has received a recent mark-up.The Sun’s analysis found that Trump’s “Victory 47” perfume and cologne – which debuted in February 2024 at $99, before having their packaging redesigned and selling for $199 – is now going for $249 a bottle. The outlet notes that the product most directly impacted by the economy is the president’s range of gold and silver medallions, the price of which is reportedly tied to the value of those precious metals, meaning it can fluctuate dramatically.The Independent has reached out to the Trump Organization for comment. Several Trump merchandise sellers have had to close this year as shoppers stay away amid high prices and disapproval of his performance in office (AFP/Getty)Todd Belt, a professor of political management at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., pointed out that the president’s supporters have traditionally been prepared to pay more for his merchandise, which they wear as a tribal uniform, signifying their loyalty.MAGA Republicans sees Trump-branded clothing as an important means of expressing their “allegiance to somebody who they think is tough, somebody who they think says the types of things that other people aren’t willing to say,” Belt said.However, the professor also suggested it could be seen as “tone deaf” to be hawking merch at high prices just now given the public’s affordability concerns and the frequency of headlines about the president and his family allegedly using the presidency to enrich themselves while voters struggle to make ends meet.The prospect of hard times coming for the Trump merchandise sector was foretold in August when a massive Trump superstore in Knoxville, Tennessee, was forced to close its doors because shoppers were staying away, even with a 50 percent discount on offer.The owner of a similar venture, Trump Town USA in Boones Mill, Virginia, likewise admitted to the straitened circumstances in September, telling The Wall Street Journal: “Today, the economy is just not worth a c*** anymore.”