Days after President Trump took office, campaign veterans began to brainstorm ways to sustain enthusiasm among the grass roots. Last month, one early idea finally hit roof pools and beaches: swimsuits that say, “Make America Great Again.”
The unconventional presidential merchandise concept was slowed by design iterations and finding a U.S. manufacturer, but debuted just before Memorial Day, with Lara Trump modeling a suit in a widely shared Instagram post.
“Traditionally, this is not something presidential candidates do,” Lara Trump told the Washington Examiner. “But why not? People really want ‘Make America Great Again’ gear and products that support the president and look really patriotic.”
Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law and a senior adviser to his re-election campaign, said her father-in-law was not asked to approve the swimsuit idea before it launched, but that “I know the way he thinks, I know what he likes.”
“We didn’t ask him,” she said. “He trusts us over here.”
The campaign ended up producing both male and female swimsuits, both of which cost $55. The campaign doesn’t make much money on merchandise, as it is all made in the U.S., but it’s still an important way to engage supporters, Lara Trump said.
Lara Trump said she encourages the president’s backers share photos of themselves in the suits.
“I love the idea of women sharing photos of themselves,” she said. “People said it was impossible for women to support President Trump. … I love the idea of women showing their support, and if they do it with a swimsuit, I love it even more.”
“This campaign from the beginning has been very grass-roots,” she said. “I love the idea of people supporting the president on social media — if it’s in a hat, a bathing suit, or a towel.”
Incongruous to 2016 election results, the top four states for sales are Texas, California, Florida, and New York — in that order. Ohio and Pennsylvania are tied for fifth.
But sales are off to a somewhat slow start. As of Wednesday, the campaign had, in roughly one month, sold 181 women’s suits and 351 men’s trunks — all made in California. The campaign also sold 420 towels made in South Carolina.
Lara Trump said she received many compliments on her suit and may end up recruiting her husband Eric Trump or brother-in-law Donald Trump Jr. to wear the men’s version for photos.
Although first lady Melania Trump formerly worked as a prominent fashion model, she’s not expected to pose, nor is the president — even if he retweeted a cartoon Tuesday of himself surfing a 2018 midterm election “red wave” in a swimsuit.
Ace Specialties Inc. in Lafayette, La., provides much of the Trump campaign’s merchandise and was entrusted with selecting models for promotional materials, Lara Trump said. The company’s orders were to select good-looking ordinary Americans who were not “too slim.” Lara Trump said that she was satisfied with the two women and one man selected.
MAGA swim gear took off long before the campaign released its version.
“We were the first to make MAGA swimsuits, and we’ve sold more than 10,000 of them in June,” AAF Nation owner Shawn Wylde told Yahoo Style last year.
AAF continued to sell similar-looking suits — male and female versions for $39.95 — until Thursday morning, despite the fact that President Trump trademarked the phrase “Make America Great Again” in 2012.
“Actually didn’t realize it was a trademark, will have to look into that,” Wylde told the Examiner in an email. “We have dozens of requests every day asking about [the items].”
After publication of this article, Wylde ended sales of MAGA products and linked item listings to the Trump campaign shop. “Just saw their swimsuit. They have good taste!” he said.
According to Lara Trump, the idea of campaign swim gear took form long before this year’s launch.
“We never really stopped selling merchandise. We continued all through the inauguration,” she said. “In January last year, we got together and said, ’How do we make this interesting and fun?’ … We thought about it last January right after the inauguration, [but] by the time we found an American manufacturer, it was June,” resulting in a wait until this summer.
Lara Trump is currently the only family member directly involved in the 2020 Trump campaign, a distinction from the 2016 efforts, which she recalled as a political operation that was “like a family unit.” But she said the campaign still has a free-wheeling quality.
“This is a unique president,” she said. “We don’t have an orthodox campaign.”
On the horizon, the campaign plans to release items with Trump’s 2020 slogan “Keep America Great!”
Although willing to take unconventional opportunities, Trump said there are lines the campaign won’t cross with merchandise.
“We would never do anything we thought would be offensive to anyone or anything along those lines,” she said. “[But] we always are searching for the next thing people would want.”
