Trump's Unpopularity Is More Obvious Than Ever As MAGA Merch Store Sales Fall Off A Cliff
The red Make America Great Again (MAGA) hats have become a veritable calling card for Donald Trump fans. Trump has even pushed his MAGA merch in the White House to European leaders, among others. However, Trump swag reportedly isn't selling the same way it used to ever since the U.S. and Israel began a war with Iran. The Trump Truth Store in Crystal Lake, Illinois, was profiled in the Chicago Tribune, and owner Lisa Fleischmann said she's seen a dip in sales since the start of the war that led her to temporarily close the store.
"Sales were really slow," Fleischmann told the Chicago Tribune. "It all started with the war. I think (customers) are unsure what's going on. Not everyone. But I think a majority of people are unsure what's going on."
From photos on her Facebook page, her shop sells Trump and MAGA merch of all kinds, and she is herself an ardent Trump supporter. This isn't the first time that Fleischmann has noticed Trump's actions impacting business, though. She'd first noticed a serious sales dip last year when Trump announced his sweeping tariffs, which affected sales at her previous location in Huntley, a suburb of Chicago. That tariff moment also gave us Trump's out-of-touch comments about how many dolls American parents should buy for their children. Fleischmann has posted on Facebook that she plans to reopen her shop sometime in April.
Donald Trump's approval has tanked since the war
The dip in sales for Donald Trump and MAGA merch that Lisa Fleischmann experienced recently would appear to match up with the dip in polls. Trump's disapproval ratings from the last week of March ranged from 59% disapproval in a Fox News poll to 64% disapproval in a CNN poll, with both having grown over previous weeks.
As reports about the store's difficulties spread online, Trump critics weren't all that sympathetic to Fleischmann's situation or to what it seemed to signal about Trump's support. "Love this for him," one person posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. Another person quipped, "Don't worry, she'll find a new hustle soon. Maybe she'll suddenly realize she's a pet psychic or something."
Even if MAGA merch is seeing a decline, there have been some new merch opportunities that have popped up during Trump's second term. After the president threatened to annex Greenland, a move that seemed to escalate after Trump's ego took a hit when he didn't get the Nobel Peace Prize, a shop in Copenhagen started making popular red "Make America Go Away" hats. Similarly, after Trump's comments about making Canada the 51st state, an Ottawa design firm came up with "Canada Is Not for Sale" hats.