Jared Kushner Reveals How Much Money Donald Trump's Campaign Really Made Off MAGA Hats
"Make America Great Again" — it was a slogan, abbreviated MAGA, that although Donald Trump was not the first politician to utter (that would have been Ronald Reagan), became synonymous with his presidential campaign and eventual term (via NBC News). Of course, in very Trump-like fashion, the businessman-turned commander-in-chief commoditized MAGA by splashing the words across merchandise, notably hats.
The idea to create a MAGA hat not only potentially sparked a movement, but also greatly benefitted the conservative's campaign in terms of the bottom line. Just how much dough sales of the accessory netted may shock even the most die-hard Trump supporters, and this juicy detail is shared in the likely 2024 candidate's son-in-law's new book.
Indeed, as Jared Kushner, who of course is married to the tycoon's oldest daughter Ivanka, shares in "Breaking History," what started out as a little side project soon grew into a major revenue stream (via New York Post).
Donald Trump wearing a MAGA hat ignited a frenzy
Jared Kushner writes that it was the big man himself who designed the hats, which he said he first saw in Trump Tower on the desk of a marketing executive in the summer of 2015. "I noticed a wide-brimmed, old-school red baseball hat with four words in bold white lettering: MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN," the dad of three penned. Once his father-in-law donned the hat to a public outing to the United States/Mexico border, Kushner says "it became the hottest thing on the internet."
The 41-year-old's new book, "Breaking History," contains many eyebrow-raising tidbits, including a huge secret the former president's son-in-law kept during Donald Trump's time in office. Another piece of information that likely has tongues wagging is that the leader's MAGA hats were such an internet sensation following Trump's visit to the border, that they quickly benefitted the campaign tenfold (via New York Post).
Trump's political advisor son-in-law writes that the campaign went from selling $8,000 worth of the accessory daily, to an astonishing $80,000 per day. The hat sales were so successful, Kushner says in his book that the profits "funded most of the campaign's overhead costs," which the Post estimates could have amounted to $29 million alone.
Even Donald Trump's biggest critics bought MAGA hats
Donald Trump's MAGA hats made a lot of bank likely in part due to the controversial Republican's business know how. Consider that he trademarked the phrase "Make America Great Again" in 2015, according to CNN Money. A second trademark was meant to cover merchandise that employed the expression, with Trump even going so far as to issue a cease and desist order to an outlet that was printing up copycat versions of the hat and other items such as shirts and bumper stickers.
Of course, this doesn't mean that all MAGA hats were purchased directly from Trump's campaign and knockoffs were most certainly also sold.
Even non-supporters bought hats en masse. Indeed, The New York Times called MAGA hats an "ironic summer accessory" in a 2015 piece. Trump himself told the paper about his hats, which retailed for $25 if purchased directly from his campaign website, "I was certainly surprised to the extent it caught on."