Former United States president and current presidential hopeful Donald Trump on Saturday (Feb 17) launched a sneaker line, a day after he was fined nearly $355 million in the New York civil fraud case, American media reported. According to a report by the news agency Associated Press, Trump unveiled “Trump Sneakers” at the Sneaker Con in Philadelphia.
The report said that Trump, 77, was met with boos as well as cheers at the Philadelphia Convention Center as he introduced what he called the first official Trump footwear. “This is something I’ve been talking about for 12 years, 13 years, and I think it’s going to be a big success,” he said.
Some people at the event held signs that read “SNEAKERHEADS LOVE TRUMP.”
Sneakers sold out on website
The sneakers, gold lame high tops with an American flag detail on the back, are being sold as “Never Surrender High-Tops” for $399 on a new website (called Trump Sneakers) that also sells Trump-branded “Victory47” cologne and perfume for $99 a bottle.
A visit to the website showed that the sneakers were sold out, as there were only 1,000 pairs available. The website said it has no connection to Trump’s presidential campaign.
This is not the first money-making venture that the 77-year-old Republican announced since launching his third campaign for the White House in 2022. In 2023, Trump reported making between $100,000 and $1 million for a series of digital trading cards that portrayed him, through photo editing, in a series of cartoon-like images, the Associated Press reported.
Trump Sneakers is run by CIC Ventures LLC, a company that Trump reported owning in his 2023 financial disclosure.
Trump fined in New York fraud case
On Friday, Trump was ordered to pay $354.9 million to the state of New York in penalties for fraudulently overstating his net worth to dupe lenders, a judge ruled. Justice Arthur Engoron also banned Trump from serving as an officer or director of any New York corporation for three years.
In his ruling, Engoron said that Trump and the other defendants in the civil fraud case were incapable of admitting the error of their ways.
Also watch | US VP Kamal Harris warns against Republican Trump’s World view
The case came into light after a lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James accused Trump and his family businesses of overstating his net worth by as much as $3.6 billion a year over a decade to fool bankers into giving him better loan terms.
Addressing his supporters in Michigan, Trump said on Saturday that the fraud fine was an election interference ploy.
“The decision yesterday in New York, you may have read about it… crooked judge. Crooked judge, he’s a crooked judge… (The decision) by a radical left-wing judge was a lawless and unconstitutional atrocity that set fire to our laws like no one has ever seen in this country before. That happens in banana republics. It doesn’t happen in this country. The case is a complete and total sham. It’s a sham case,” he said.
(With inputs from agencies)
