You may have noticed that a new product recently popped up on Trump’s reelection campaign website: a golden coin with Trump’s face on one side and “Make America Great Again” on the other, that sits on a “Blue Kraft box” that has the Trump/Pence logo on it and…I’ll stop there, you get the picture. It costs $45.
The medals are also featured prominently in a three-minute video posted to Trump’s Youtube channel on Wednesday, which is ostensibly supposed to get viewers excited about an executive order he signed in June that doubles the amount of money the government spends on apprenticeship programs, thus theoretically creating more apprenticeships (an initiative Ivanka pitched in on a lot, reportedly).
“I’ll be signing an executive order to expand apprenticeships and vocational training,” the video begins, playing footage of Trump’s initial announcement, “to help all Americans find a rewarding career, earn a great living, and support themselves and their families, and love going to work in the morning.” It should come as no surprise then that these words introduces a miniature documentary about people who work in a shop that appears to exclusively manufacture those medals with Trump’s face on them. You see, America makes stuff. “Made in the USA to me is pride,” explains the CEO of Medalcraft Mint, the Trump-face medal manufacturers. “Made in the USA is iconic.”
Here are various testimonials from workers at the factory that reproduces Trump’s face:
“It’s just amazing. It’s kind of like living the dream.”
“Coming to work every day knowing I’m making the medals for President Trump gives me a great sense of pride.”
“The nice thing about this is because this is done by hand, every coin is actually unique.”
“Oh I’m proud. Every time I see president Trump on tv, behind his desk there’s a display case, and that’s all our stuff, so.”
That’s pretty sweet product placement, if true. Sounds like money.
Anyway, as usual with this administration, I have little clue what’s actually going on, but the video certainly suggests that Trump’s apprenticeship program is being used at least in part to make medals with his face on them, sold for too much money to raise funds for his reelection campaign. I just don’t know what other conclusion to draw at the moment, but maybe the administration will fill us in never. And is that woman in the final shot winking repeatedly as she delivers her lines? I think so.