Trump’s checks, Biden’s emails, and the art of getting credit
Plus: Please, won’t you help this man?
Hello, in this issue we’ll look at…
Please, won’t you help this man?
Trump’s checks, Biden’s emails, and the art of getting credit
See how the U.K. government rebranded its website for King Charles III
Scroll to the end to see: the property once owned by Bob Ross Inc. that just went on the market.
Please, won’t you help this man?
Former President Donald Trump is unemployed, barred from doing business in the state he once called home, and bleeding money. Please, won’t you help this man?
After he was hit with a $355 million penalty in a civil fraud case and banned from operating businesses in New York for three years last week, Trump’s campaign reported spending more than it’s making.
Federal Election Commission filings show Trump’s campaign brought in $8.8 million and burned through $11.4 million last month. To make matters worse, Trump’s allied super PACs continue spending money they don’t have on his legal bills: Save America PAC spent $2.9 million on legal fees in January.
Over email, though, Trump doesn’t sound desperate. “I know it’s a tough time in Joe Biden’s America, so if you can’t afford to donate right now - DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT!” he wrote in a Thursday fundraising email. But does somebody who’s not desperate sell golden sneakers?
The $399 Never Surrender High-Top Sneaker that Trump debuted at Sneaker Con last week are classic Trump. The product line — which also includes the $199 T-Red Waves and POTUS 45s, and two fragrances, a him-and-hers Victory47 cologne and perfume for $99 a pop — licensed Trump’s name and likeness, something that’s long been a revenue stream for him (see also: Trump Steaks and Trump Wine).
This isn’t campaign merch. The items are produced by a company called 45Footwear LLC, so like Trump NFTs, which means that as Trump’s campaign and allied super PACs are burning through precious campaign funds, his fundraising efforts are split between political endeavors and personal ones like the sneakers.
And there’s evidence things could be even worse than they seem. Trump’s refunds to donors appear suspiciously low, the Daily Beast found, which could be masking the true state of his campaign’s finances. Please, won’t you help this man?
Trump’s checks, Biden’s emails, and the art of getting credit
Borrowers eligible for the Biden administration’s most recent student debt cancellation this week got an email from POTUS.
“Congratulations—all or a portion of your federal student loans will be forgiven,” read the email. “You will receive an email from your loan servicer notifying you that your debt has been forgiven. I hope this relief gives you a little more breathing room.”
Technically, the sender email was noreply at studentaid dot gov, according to screenshots, but the sender name was “President of the United States” and the email was topped by a presidential seal. It went out to some 153,000 borrowers with $12,000 in loans or less who’ve been paying for a decade or more, and President Joe Biden would like a little credit.
Putting your name as president to stimulus or debt relief has become one of the modern perks of incumbency, and Biden’s Education Department has sent emails in his name during some but not all of the previous rounds of debt relief, according to Politico. The White House says nearly 3.9 million Americans have had student debt cancelled since Biden took office.
Four years earlier, Trump tried something in a similar vein when his Treasury Department under then-Secretary Steven Mnuchin included “President Donald J. Trump” on the memo line on checks that went out to 35 million Americans under the CARES Act.
The move was unprecedented. No U.S. president’s name had ever appeared on an IRS disbursement before, and with in-person campaigning shut down at the time in the early days of COVID-19, the checks kept Trump’s name in front of voters. Emails at the time obtained by ABC News found the decision to add Trump’s name was last minute, with requests to redesign the checks going out just days before payments would begin being sent.
Presidents may not always want their name on everything they do, though. Biden proudly touts his bipartisan infrastructure law, but “courtesy Joe Biden” isn’t necessarily something you want on signage when traffic’s bad because of construction. And politicians are also known for taking credit for things they didn’t do. Sens. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and John Cornyn of Texas are among the Republicans who’ve lauded broadband expansion in their states. The only problem? They voted against the bill.
See how the U.K. government rebranded its website for King Charles III
The United Kingdom has updated its online symbol of state.
A new crown icon for King Charles III just started appearing on gov.uk, replacing a previous crown icon used under the late Queen Elizabeth II. The new logo isn’t a dramatic departure from the old, though. Both use the same illustration for the crown’s base and cross, and both use dots to depict the rest of the crown’s silhouette. Where Elizabeth’s crown arched inward on the sides like a heart to depict the St. Edward’s Crown, Charles’s crown logo has a rounded dome for the Tudor Crown.
“The digital realm is now an integral part of our lives, and as his Majesty’s Government we take pride in this change to GOV.UK today, honouring the chosen crown of our King,” Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said in a statement announcing the new symbol.
The new logo is just one piece of a multiyear rebrand across government to reflect the U.K.’s new head of state, an exercise without a direct U.S. equivalent (imagine the U.S. government redesigning its currency and stamps every four to eight years to reflect a new president).
Charles chose the Tudor Crown in 2022 for his royal cypher, a monogram that appears on things like government buildings and state documents, and since ascending to the throne, other changes have been made to reflect his reign. The Royal Mint began distributing new coins with King Charles’s likeness to post offices in late 2022, and stamps with his likeness began appearing last year.
The new website logo comes about nine months after King Charles’s coronation, but the monthslong lag in the website update isn’t necessarily surprising considering the pace of other updates. Post boxes, for example, aren’t replaced with the new royal cypher until they need to be repaired, and some depicting Queen Victoria’s royal cypher are still in operation, according to the BBC.
Have you seen this?
A.I.-generated propaganda is just as persuasive as the real thing, worrying study finds. Propaganda from popular A.I. tools “could blend into online information environments on par with…existing foreign covert propaganda campaigns." [Vice] (R.I.P.) :(
You can now own the home where Bob Ross artist retreats took place. The home was owned by Bob Ross Inc., and served as a retreat for students to learn the artist's painting techniques. [Artnet News]
A New Orleans magician says a Democratic operative paid him to make the fake Biden robocall. Dean Phillips’ presidential campaign denounced the alleged actions of one of its consultants and said it may take legal action against him. [NBC News]
History of political design
George Washington Inaugural button (1789). The phrase “Long Live the President” was featured on most buttons produced for Washington’s first inauguration, according to Tippecanoe and Trinkets Too by Roger A. Fischer.
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A portion of this newsletter was first published in Fast Company.