Trump Could Make America Great Again

by

Making It Here

Trump rails against China and India and Japan and everyone he says is beating us. He says we have to bring jobs back, stop businesses from moving their factories overseas and over the border. #MakeItHere

But - when you follow the money - it never seems to be where Donald's mouth is. He's the Emperor Who Wears No Clothes.

At least, no clothes Made in America.

While wearing Trump shoes manufactured in China, or his ties manufactured in Bangladesh, he sure doesn't walk the talk.

Sunday ~ August 30, 2016

How many Trump products sold here were made over there? A complete list.

Trump has a long history of outsourcing a variety of his products and - before running for "president" - Trump acknowledged his outsourcing fetish, out loud, and often. When asked during a debate why voters should trust that Trump “will run the country differently from how you run your businesses” he answered:

Outsourcing: He Was For It 'Fore He Was Agin It

Trump encouraged outsourcing to students of Trump University, the now-defunct program that is under litigation over allegations of fraud. The Trump University saga itself, and the intertwined twitter war Donald has unleashed on the judge in the case - Gonzalo Curiel - is some Hearst era stuff, and not what this page is really about. We only bring it up because, yes, his University, that he is so very proud of, taught courses in Outsourcing, praising the practice as a life saver for successful businesses.

Extreme Vetting By WaPO

The Washington Post recently searched for 'sources' of Trump products digging through piles of publicly available data - including online retail stores and public data of shipments at U.S. ports - from 2007 through Aug. 17, 2016. Public data can tell you alot, like the last port of shipment for everything before an item enters the United States, and most manifests include the manufactured location for certain items. 

The Facts on Trump Apparel

The Donald J. Trump Collection includes ties, suits, dress shirts, eyeglasses and other accessories. Trump shirts are made in China, Bangladesh, Honduras and Vietnam. PolitiFact Virginia found some Trump sport coats made in India. In 2007, a shipping container's manifest showed a Trump men’s shirt shipment was marked as "Made in South Korea." BuzzFeed ordered a suit off Amazon that was listed as both “imported” and “Made in USA” — upon arrival the suit's label read "Made in Indonesia." 

Trump Accessories To The Fact

Trump eyeglasses are made in China. Cufflinks and most other accessories do not list the source of manufacturing on Amazon.com.

Feathering The Nest

The Trump Home brand has a wide range of items for the gilded inclinded, including chandeliers, mirrors, bedding, table lamps, cabinets, sofas, barstools, and cocktail tables - all "global luxury" items produced under Trump's Dorya International label. According to Furniture Today, most of his entire collection is made in, and imported from, either Germany or China. According to the trademark registration for the Trump Home brand, other items like picture frames were made in India.

The Absolute Classiest Digs

Many hotel amenities at Trump’s hotels were manufactured overseas and imported. Trump Hotel pens were made in China or Taiwan, and imported into the United States via South Korea. Shampoo, body wash, moisturizers, shower caps, laundry bags, show bags, pet collars, pet leashes and bath towels at Trump hotels are all listed as made in China.

Bottoms Up

Trump Vodka was manufactured at a distillery in Holland, supposedly distilled five times from “European wheat.” We say "was" because the liquor distribution company stopped carrying Trump Vodka in 2010. An Israeli company continued to carry Trump Vodka, although the version sold in Israel is different from the original Trump Vodka. The Trump Vodka produced and sold in Israel was made from ingredients that make it kosher for Passover, which made it a popular beverage around the holidays. But the Jerusalem Post reported that it turned out that not all ingredients actually were kosher for Passover, so there went that.

Bottom Line

Trump’s products are being made in 12 other countries. You heard right. The 'Make It In America' candidate doesn't make anything here, except maybe anchor babies. Trump products are manufactured in China, the Netherlands, Mexico, India, Turkey, Slovenia, Honduras, Germany, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Vietnam and South Korea. In addition, before they show up on places like Donald's head, "Make America Great Again" products transited other countries through packaging and shipping processes - meaning the handling of all Trump's inventory, from all of his product lines, was done along the way by what Trump would probably refer to as "illegal immigrants" from more than 12 countries. #AmericanJobs

We Live In A Global Economy

Let's face it folks, manufacturing is a global process. American companies make products everyday that are made of parts that come from all over the world, depending on who offers the most competitive prices, and that's never going to change. But access to all that cheap labor is also what supports our economy and makes it possible for small businesses to grow faster. The truth is, our economic problems won't simply be solved by deciding not to eat an Oreo cookie because Nabisco found a cheaper place to employ some of its workers. And Trump’s own business practices aren't consistent with his current rhetoric against trade as a presidential nominee. If Trump fans took the same stance against his clothing lines as he did against Nabisco, it is clear those would-be emperors would be left wearing no clothes at all. 

Trump hates that China's leaders are so much smarter than ours.

Of course, many people say that Trump is the number one business leader in America. As a leader, one so obsessed with trade and China and levying huge excise taxes, ya think he would have done something about his Bejing tie factory repatriating by now, don't you think?

Today Donald still has yet to build one manufacturing plant in the U.S.

We know he has the money. So what's with that?

( David Letterman 2012.)