As he closes in on the Republican presidential nomination, former President Donald Trump made a highly unusual stop Saturday, hawking new Trump-branded sneakers at “Sneaker Con,” a gathering that bills itself as the “The Greatest Sneaker Show on Earth.”
Trump was met with loud boos as well as cheers at the Philadelphia Convention Center as he introduced what he called the first official Trump footwear.
The shoes, gold lame high tops with an American flag detail on the back, are being sold as “Never Surrender High-Tops” for $399 on a new website that also sells Trump-branded “Victory47” cologne and perfume for $99 a bottle. He’d be the 47th president if elected again.
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Biden-Harris 2024 Communications Director Michael Tyler slammed the appearance, saying: “Donald Trump showing up to hawk bootleg Off-Whites is the closest he’ll get to any Air Force Ones ever again for the rest of his life.”
I don’t think this type of scheme is even illegal which is the main problem.
There are indeed many forms of money laundering which are considered illegal in America, and it is absolutely illegal if someone is accepting funds derived from illicit activity or sanctioned entities (like Russia). The government and most financial institutions generally take the stance that there are very few good reasons to obscure the ultimate source of funds, and so tend to be very risk-averse with such activity.
The trick is in confirming anything illicit is going on when there are potentially dozens of steps and borders in between the source and the recipient.