President Donald Trump’s efforts to coax wary House Republicans off the fence to support his “big, beautiful” budget bill have seemingly succeeded, as GOP leaders say the president’s centerpiece legislation will likely pass by Friday.
Trump pulled out all the stops to achieve this outcome, including turning to what he does best, or at least most unrelentingly: merchandise.
The president has commoditized his image and the office of the president like no other, constantly hawking Trump-branded products, from his trademark MAGA hats to more peculiar products, like cryptocurrency, cell phones, shoes, Bibles, guitars, watches—and, most recently, a fragrance.
Given Trump’s penchant for merchandising, it’s perhaps no surprise he made lavishing Republican holdouts with awful merch a central prong of his “charm offensive” to garner support for the bill, per The New York Times.
The Times reports that, on Wednesday, GOP lawmakers who entered the White House uncertain about the bill—which would gut social programs and tilt taxes to benefit the wealthy—“walked out with signed merchandise, photos in the Oval Office and, by some accounts, a newfound appreciation for the bill.”
After Representative Tim Burchett met with the president, he posted a video in which he, walking with a gaggle of fellow House Republicans, heaped praise on the president.
“The president was wonderful, as always—informative, funny. He told me he likes seeing me on TV, which was kind of cool,” Burchett said.
From out of frame, Representative Byron Donald asked, “Did you show them what he signed for you?” to which Burchett, almost blushingly, replied, “Yeah, he signed a bunch of stuff. It’s cool.”
In response, Democrats such as Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have derided their Republican colleagues for being so easily swayed in favor of the bill.
Meanwhile, Trump is seemingly unaware of the content of the legislation he’s so vigorously pushing. According to NOTUS, during one meeting where he sought to court House Republicans, he impressed upon those in attendance that future electoral victories will require leaving social programs like Medicaid untouched.
“But we’re touching Medicaid in this bill,” one member of Congress replied. (The bill’s changes to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act are estimated to strip at least 17 million Americans of their health insurance by 2034.)
If the bill passes as is expected, and social program cuts are the political loser Trump (wisely) says they are, then the MAGA merch with which he lavished lawmakers may be worth little within a couple election cycles.
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