---
[ WORLD WATCH ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/world-watch)
# CityWatch Today: Trump’s Tacky, Relentless Selling of America
March 25 2019
Written by Abby Zimet.
[](https://www.addtoany.com/share)
**GUEST WORDS**--While we await the Mueller findings, Trump is greedily hustling to squeeze every cent he can from hard-pressed taxpayers before - please please - prison or impeachment calls. Hence the[ new line](https://zacheverson.substack.com/p/trump-store-features-white-house) of crap from his Trump Store, released last week for spring: A cherry-blossom-themed mess of mugs, shirts, soap et al "[inspired](https://twitter.com/Trump/status/1108467700597252096)" by Trump's D.C. Hotel that goes one step further into bizarre, grandiose hucksterism by plastering the name "Trump Hotels" and "Trump Washington D.C." over images of the White House and other Capitol buildings, evidently in hopes of convincing us the White House is a Trump Hotel and America is him. And yes: Not just tawdry, but illegal. *(Photo above: No press allowed inside Mar-A-Lago, so we just have these blurry social media photos of white people hunkered down during our national emergency, partying while America burns.)*
The [collection](https://www.trumpstore.com/collections/gifts-spring-with-trump-washington-d-c) includes a [long-sleeve shirt](https://www.trumpstore.com/collections/gifts-spring-with-trump-washington-d-c/products/trump-washington-d-c-transitory-tee) ($45), [jumbo mug](https://www.trumpstore.com/collections/gifts-spring-with-trump-washington-d-c/products/cherry-blossom-jumbo-mug) ($16) and [soap set](https://www.trumpstore.com/collections/gifts-spring-with-trump-washington-d-c/products/cherry-blossom-bar-soap-set) ($22) featuring both blatant lies - the soap reads "Trump Hotels" over an outline of the White House - and slimy, truth-fudging misrepresentation like the moniker "Trump Washington D.C." over the hotel and "our capital’s landmarks and iconic flora." Presumably, given the site also separately lists "Made in the USA" items, the blossomy stuff is all made in China. [Responses](https://twitter.com/TrumpStore/status/1108391261495586816) on social media were mixed: One [commenter](https://twitter.com/Z_Everson/status/1109453228960288774) said he's waiting for an I-never-cared-for-McCain mug, while [\#Kavanaugh's Beer ](https://twitter.com/beer_kavanaugh)noted, "I'm a beer and I understand the emoluments clause better than this guy."
In other how-else-can-we-rip-off America news, a leaked recording has [exposed](https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/03/23/trump-big-oil-industry-influence-investigation-zinke-226106) oil and gas executives giddily boasting about their newly unprecedented presidential access - it's "worked out well"; the Republican National Committee just [spent ](http://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/forms/C00003418/1320734/sb/ALL/1)another $1,085.60 at Trump's D.C. hotel, [bringing](https://www.fec.gov/data/disbursements/?two_year_transaction_period=2018&data_type=processed&committee_id=C00003418&recipient_name=BLT+PRime&recipient_name=Benjamin+Bar+and+Lounge&recipient_name=TRUMP+INTERNATIONAL+HOTEL&recipient_name=Trump+Hotel&recipient_name=Trump+Old+Post+Office&min_date=01%2F01%2F2017&max_date=12%2F31%2F2018) its total spending there to $404,077.57 since 2017; campaign filings show Trump has [charged ](https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2019/03/20/trump-has-now-shifted-13m-of-campaign-donor-money-into-his-business/#3a52db5d7aaf)his own reelection campaign $1.3 million for rent, food, lodging and other expenses since taking office - $1.3 million of donor money that went straight into his slimy pocket - and, because grifters gonna grift, on Friday the Palm Beach County GOP held their annual [Lincoln Day Dinner ](http://www.towleroad.com/2019/03/lindsey-graham-trump/)at - yes! - Mar-a-Lago.
Event tickets [cost ](https://twitter.com/funder/status/1109433379055943680)up to $25,000, but only from "American citizens and green-card holders." The evening's keynote speaker was Lindsey "Trump Is A Jackass" Graham, who "[joked"](https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/23/mueller-report-lindsey-graham-trump-1233186) about Trump opening a hotel in Jerusalem but somehow forgot to mention his good "friend" John McCain, currently being trashed by his host and savior. Press was for the first time banned - prompting applause - but social media delivered rogue [photos ](https://twitter.com/riotwomennn/status/1109424124651364352/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1109424124651364352&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailykos.com%2Fstory%2F2019%2F3%2F23%2F1844461%2F-At-Mar-a-Lago-last-night-Lock-her-up-chants-images-of-Lincoln-in-a-red-MAGA-hat)of a sea of white men (except the waiters), plastic blond women, and [bottles ](https://twitter.com/funder/status/1109513379557851136)of Trump water that may or may not have come from Trump toilets. Because it wasn't surreal enough these cretins broke out in [chants](https://twitter.com/riotwomennn/status/1109424124651364352/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1109424124651364352&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailykos.com%2Fstory%2F2019%2F3%2F23%2F1844461%2F-At-Mar-a-Lago-last-night-Lock-her-up-chants-images-of-Lincoln-in-a-red-MAGA-hat) of "Lock Her Up!" and there is no low to which they will not go, the final indignity was visited upon once-noble Abe Lincoln, who appeared in posters and an icky dessert sporting a MAGA hat. We're ready to take back our country now, thanks.
*(Guest columnist Abby Zimet writes for Common Dreams where this piece was first posted.)*
*-cw*
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/116 "USA Radio Museum - Wide")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/107 "LA DWP | Save $4K, Green | Priority Ad")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/82 "LA DWP #2 (Power Savers)")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/97 "Home - LA DWP #2 (Pay Water Bill Help)")
## Get The News In Your Email Inbox Mondays & Thursdays
Name
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/110 "Something You Should Know")
---
## Featured CityWatch Stories
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/election-2024/33710-bass-is-out-raman-is-in-is-los-angeles-trading-failure-for-a-bigger-crisis)
### [Bass Is Out. Raman Is In. Is Los Angeles Trading Failure for a Bigger Crisis?](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/election-2024/33710-bass-is-out-raman-is-in-is-los-angeles-trading-failure-for-a-bigger-crisis)
THE BOTTOM LINE - Karen Bass lost the confidence of Los Angeles voters. Nithya Raman won their support. But can a new m…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33687-first-test-of-next-governor-s-leadership-demand-a-full-forensic-audit-of-bullet-train)
### [First Test of Next Governor`s Leadership: Demand a Full Forensic Audit of Bullet Train](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33687-first-test-of-next-governor-s-leadership-demand-a-full-forensic-audit-of-bullet-train)
NICK’S VIEW - For a case study in lost public trust and squandered taxpayer money, look no further than California’s hi…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33698-a-great-night-for-america-and-a-warning-to-both-parties)
### [A Great Night for America—and a Warning to Both Parties](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33698-a-great-night-for-america-and-a-warning-to-both-parties)
FRED TALK - The opinions in this column are solely mine and I stand by them. I did not write yesterday because I wanted…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33704-nithyas-budget-buzz-saw)
### [Nithya’s Budget Buzz Saw](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33704-nithyas-budget-buzz-saw)
LA WATCHDOG - Nithya Raman, our new mayor, will inherit a budget that is a river of red ink. According to the First Fi…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33709-progress-not-presto-chango)
### [Progress, Not Presto-Chango](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33709-progress-not-presto-chango)
IN MY VIEW - If We Want People Off the Streets, We Have to Give Them Somewhere to Go. I was about five years old, wa…
---
## [ WORLD WATCH ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/world-watch)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/world-watch/33600-israels-fateful-election-a-nation-on-the-brink)### [Israel’s Fateful Election: A Nation On The Brink](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/world-watch/33600-israels-fateful-election-a-nation-on-the-brink)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/world-watch/33501-the-slow-motion-erasure-of-the-west-bank)### [The Slow-Motion Erasure Of The West Bank](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/world-watch/33501-the-slow-motion-erasure-of-the-west-bank)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/world-watch/32951-venezuela-needs-the-world-more-than-ever-english-spanish)### [Venezuela Needs the World More Than Ever \[English & Spanish\]](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/world-watch/32951-venezuela-needs-the-world-more-than-ever-english-spanish)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/world-watch/32873-netanyahus-betrayal-of-israels-promise)### [Netanyahu’s Betrayal Of Israel’s Promise](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/world-watch/32873-netanyahus-betrayal-of-israels-promise)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/world-watch/32727-turkeys-egregious-human-rights-violations-are-beyond-the-pale)### [Turkey’s Egregious Human Rights Violations Are Beyond The Pale](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/world-watch/32727-turkeys-egregious-human-rights-violations-are-beyond-the-pale)