Global trade records [...] show a printing company in China’s eastern city of Hangzhou shipped close to 120,000 of the Bibles to the United States between early February and late March.
The estimated value of the three separate shipments was $342,000, or less than $3 per Bible, according to databases that use customs data to track exports and imports. The minimum price for the Trump-backed Bible is $59.99, putting the potential sales revenue at about $7 million.
The Trump Bible’s connection to China, which has not been previously reported, reveals a deep divide between the former president’s harsh anti-China rhetoric and his rush to cash in while campaigning.
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Trump didn’t say where the “God Bless the USA” Bibles are printed, or what they cost; a copy hand-signed by the former president sells for $1,000. Trump also didn’t disclose how much he earns per sale.
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The Bibles are sold exclusively through a website that states it is not affiliated with any political campaign nor is it owned or controlled by Trump.
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The website states that Trump’s name and image are used under a paid license from CIC Ventures, a company Trump reported owning in his most recent financial disclosure. CIC Ventures earned $300,000 in Bible sales royalties, according to the disclosure. It’s unclear what period that covers or how much Trump received in additional payments since the disclosure was released in August.
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For years, Trump has castigated Beijing as an obstacle to America’s economic success [...] But Trump also has an eye on his personal finances. Pitching Bibles is one of a dizzying number of for-profit ventures he’s launched or promoted, including diamond-encrusted watches, sneakers, photo books, cryptocurrency and digital trading cards.
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“You have to assume that everything that the individual does is being done as a candidate and so that any money that flows through to him benefits him as a candidate,” Claire Finkelstein [founder of the nonpartisan Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law and a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania] said. “Suppose Vladimir Putin were to buy a Trump watch. Is that a campaign finance violation? I would think so.”
Selling Bibles, she added, “strikes me as a profoundly problematic mixing of religion and state.”
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As president, Trump would be in a position to influence policies and markets to benefit businesses in which he and his family have financial stakes. While president, his administration exempted Bibles and other religious texts from tariffs imposed on billions of dollars of Chinese goods
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The Chinese printing company confirms shipments.
