Donald Trump must be looking to make some extra money to pay the enormous fine he was hit with by the State of New York earlier this week. On Saturday (February 17), Trump landed in Philly for Sneaker Con, a gathering that bills itself as the “The Greatest Sneaker Show on Earth.” The polarizing politician was greeted with loud boos —and a few 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. The website, however, claims it has no connection to Trump’s campaign, though Trump campaign officials promoted the appearance in online posts.
After learning of Trump’s special Sneaker Con appearance, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a statement through Biden-Harris 2024 Communications Director Michael Tyler. It read: “Donald Trump showing up to hawk bootleg Off-Whites is the closet he’ll get to any Air Force Ones ever again for the rest of his life.”
President @JoeBiden’s communication director responds to Donald Trump’s appearance at Sneaker Con 🫣🫣🫣
“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.” https://t.co/ZHdspBFW1i pic.twitter.com/4K2FD0gJch
— Nice Kicks (@nicekicks) February 17, 2024
Donald Trump has bigger problems to contend with in the wake of his latest legal battle. On Friday (February 16), Trump was fined $355 million in his civil fraud case and banned from serving as a director or officer of any New York corporation for three years. Judge Arthur Engoron handed down the punishment at the end of a three-month trial. Trump was found liable of conspiring to inflate his net worth to deceive banks and others.
Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba claimed Engoron’s decision was the culmination of a witch hunt and plans to appeal the ruling.
“This is not just about Donald Trump,” Habba said. “If this decision stands, it will serve as a signal to every single American that New York is no longer open for business.”
Engoron, meanwhile, cited Trump’s refusal to admit error in the ruling and said Trump would only continue to exploit the system if he wasn’t severely punished.
“This Court is not constituted to judge morality; it is constituted to find facts and apply the law,” the judge wrote. “In this particular case, in applying the law to the facts, the Court intends to protect the integrity of the financial marketplace and, thus, the public as a whole. Defendants’ refusal to admit error—indeed, to continue it, according to the Independent Monitor—constrains this Court to conclude that they will engage in it going forward unless judicially restrained. Indeed, Donald Trump testified that, even today, he does not believe the Trump Organization needed to make any changes based on the facts that came out during this trial.”
Trump is facing four other criminal cases: two election interference cases, a classified documents case and hush money case.
