Here’s How Many Sneakers Trump Would Have to Sell to Pay Off His Legal Fees
If Donald Trump needs to raise money to pay off his legal dues, he needs to step up his game. And no, that doesn’t mean selling $399 sneakers.
The former president launched a line of self-branded sneakers at Sneaker Con in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. The gold “Never Surrender High-Top Sneaker” retails for $399, and features an American flag on the back and a “T” on the side.
Fashionados can also buy a gold-and-white low-top sneaker for $199, or a red pair also for $199. Trump also launched branded fragrance, the “Victory 47” cologne and perfume, for $99, presumably so his fans don’t get too smelly when working out in their new running shoes.
Although Trump was booed off the stage at Sneaker Con, that reaction belied the true popularity of the shoes. All 1,000 pairs of the high-tops sold out within hours of Trump unveiling them.
Unfortunately for Trump, that amounts to just $399,000—barely a drop in the bucket of his hundreds of millions of dollars in legal dues.
Trump was hit Friday with a $354 million ruling for committing real estate-related financial fraud in New York state. In order to pay that off, he would need to sell 1,127,820 pairs of the high-top sneakers. That’s a lot of kicks.
The former president can appeal the ruling, but he would first have to pay the entire amount plus interest, which could add as much as an additional $100 million.
And that’s not to mention the fact that Trump also owes writer E. Jean Carroll $88.3 million for sexually assaulting her in the mid-1990s and then defaming her twice when denying it. That’s an additional 471,929 sneakers that Trump would have to sell. And this still excludes all the fines Trump racked up during the trials for attacking courtroom staff, and the $400,000 he owes The New York Times.
One of Trump’s supporters launched a GoFundMe over the weekend, but that has so far raised just $452,000—again, not nearly enough to put a dent in the total amount he now owes.
