在耶稣受难节和复活节前，前总统唐纳德·特朗普正在宣传他的最新作品《上帝保佑美国圣经》在长长的品牌商品列表中这位房地产大亨和前电视真人秀明星在整个政治生涯中以及之前都从中受益。
受乡村音乐人李·格林伍德的歌曲《上帝保佑美国》的启发，这本圣经将以59.99美元的价格出售，并在其网站上被描述为“特朗普总统认可的唯一一本圣经”。
该书网站称，除了詹姆斯国王版本的《圣经》外，该书还“手写了《上帝保佑美国》的合唱部分”，其中包括美国宪法、《权利法案》、《独立宣言》和《效忠誓词》。
根据其网站，这本圣经“不归特朗普、特朗普集团或其附属实体所有、管理或控制”。
相反，它通过特朗普的许可公司使用特朗普“有偿许可下的姓名、肖像和图像”，这意味着特朗普可以从《圣经》的利润中分得一杯羹——这是前总统熟悉的安排。
然而，根据该网站的说法，新产品“与政治无关”，“与任何政治竞选无关”，其收益不会用于2024年特朗普的竞选活动。
拜登竞选团队对特朗普最新的品牌交易做出回应，称他是“一个骗子”。
拜登的发言人阿马尔·穆萨对美国广播公司新闻说:“今年11月选民的选择很明显:是关心为美国人民服务的乔·拜登，还是只关心为自己服务的唐纳德·特朗普。”
特朗普则认为，他在商业上的成功是他成为一名优秀政治家的部分原因。
目前还不知道特朗普已经或将从这本品牌圣经中赚了多少钱，也不清楚谁实际拥有或管理这些销售，只知道该网站的版权归一家名为“2024上帝保佑美国圣经”的实体所有。
宣传圣经在他的社交媒体平台上发布的一段视频中，特朗普说，“所有美国人的家里都需要一本圣经，我有很多本。”
“这是我最喜欢的书;这是很多人最喜欢的书，”他继续说道。“这本圣经提醒我们，要让美国复兴、让美国再次伟大，最重要的是我们的宗教。”
特朗普以前就证明过他对《圣经》的喜爱，包括在2015年。然而，在当时的一次采访中，他对自己最喜欢的诗句提出了异议，因为“圣经对我来说意义重大，但我不想谈论细节。”
在2016年的一次演讲中，他将圣经中的一本书称为“哥林多后书”，而这本书通常被称为“哥林多后书”。他把那次失误归咎于给他的假条。
这位前总统成年后的大部分时间都是一名头条新闻商人，后来成为电视明星，他经常抓住机会从品牌合作中获利——无论多么出人意料或多么成功，就像之前短暂销售的“特朗普牛排”系列。
这种冒险正引起新的关注，因为他面临巨大的财务压力，不得不缴纳1.75亿美元的保证金，以弥补他在纽约否认的民事欺诈判决，同时还在另外处理与竞争对手乔·拜登(Joe Biden)的重大财务竞选现金劣势。
一些基督徒批评特朗普将《圣经》商品化，强调在他滚雪球般的法律诉讼中，他从冒险中获得的利润可能会帮助支付他的法律账单，这可能会冒犯他的一些宗教支持者。
反特朗普组织林肯项目(the Lincoln Project)周三重新推出了一则广告，该广告在2022年播放，指责特朗普从他的支持者那里筹集资金并将这些资金用于他的个人业务，称《圣经》是“他为筹集数亿美元法律费用而进行的最新骗局——好像特朗普一生中从未读过《圣经》一样。”
他正在宣传的新《圣经》并不是他在竞选活动中花时间关注的唯一不同寻常的商品。
就在上个月，特朗普推出了类似的特许商品在费城的SneakerCon，金色的“永不投降高帮”印有“T”徽章，衣领上缠绕着一面美国国旗。
那次露面是特朗普的竞选活动与他的商业冒险相结合的最新例子。他在几双高帮运动鞋上签名，并在发表竞选言论时登台推销这些运动鞋。
这双金色的“永不投降高帮”运动鞋在网上以399.99美元的价格出售，还有其他特朗普品牌的鞋子和香水。
据“特朗普运动鞋”网站称，与《上帝保佑美国圣经》类似，特朗普鞋和香水被授权使用他的名字和商标，但不是由特朗普和特朗普集团设计、制造、分销或销售的。
《上帝保佑美国圣经》和特朗普运动鞋都是通过一家名为中投风险投资有限责任公司(CIC Ventures LLC)的公司获得使用特朗普品牌的许可的。根据特朗普的财务披露报告，这家公司由唐纳德·特朗普可撤销信托基金100%持股。
中投风险有限责任公司，据报道特朗普似乎通过这家实体获得了《我们的共同旅程》一书的数百万美元版税。该书由特朗普的白宫官方摄影师拍摄，由Gold Standard Publishing LLC出版，并由小唐纳德·特朗普联合创办的出版公司Winning Team Publishing销售。
更多:特朗普面临对拜登的重大财务劣势，因为法律法案侵蚀了盟友的现金:文件
在前总统的财务披露中，版税以“杂志之旅”的名称披露，这是该书的原标题。
唐纳德·特朗普的披露报告显示，他每年还通过CIC Ventures LLC收取数百万美元的演讲订婚费。
根据其在佛罗里达州的实体注册文件，中投风险投资公司曾由特朗普前白宫助手尼克·卢纳管理，目前由特朗普律师约翰·b·马里恩代理。
特朗普和他的妻子、前第一夫人梅兰妮·特朗普也从特朗普品牌的数字交易卡中赚了至少70万美元。数字交易卡是一种非可替代代币。特朗普夫妇的一些数字交易卡将他描绘成卡通人物，比如超级英雄，而梅兰妮·特朗普的卡上有她的水彩画和鲜花。
去年，在唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)受到越来越多的刑事指控之际(他否认了所有这些指控)，他利用自己在佐治亚州受到的指控，以每张99美元的价格推广印有他在富尔顿县监狱的预约照片的数字交易卡。
出售贺卡的网站还为一些顾客提供了一个选项，有可能赢得一张实物交易卡，上面印有他在预订照片中穿的一件西装，还有机会在他的Mar-a-Lago俱乐部与他共进晚餐。
交易卡网站表示，这些卡与该活动无关。但富尔顿县的面部照片也是特朗普竞选团队利用的一点筹集了900多万美元在照片发布后的几天内，通过出售各种商品比如咖啡杯、t恤和海报.
多年来，唐纳德·特朗普通过在多个其他业务中许可其商标获得了大量利润，包括在中国、阿拉伯联合酋长国和英国等外国的项目。
Trump endorses line of Bibles -- after selling shoes, NFTs and more
Ahead of Good Friday and Easter Sunday, former President Donald Trump is promoting the "God Bless the USA Bible," his latest venturein the long list of branded merchandisethat the real estate mogul and former reality TV star has profited from throughout his political career -- and before.
"Inspired by" country musician Lee Greenwood's song "God Bless the USA," the Bible is being sold for $59.99 and is described on its website as "the only Bible endorsed by President Trump."
In addition to the King James version of the Bible, the book features a "handwritten chorus to 'God Bless the USA,'" the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence and the Pledge of Allegiance, its website states.
According to its site, this Bible is "not owned, managed or controlled" by Trump, the Trump Organization or his affiliated entities.
Instead, it uses Trump's "name, likeness and image under paid license" through his licensing company, meaning Trump gets a cut of the Bible's profits -- a familiar arrangement for the former president.
The new product, however, is "not political" and "has nothing to do with any political campaign," according to the website, and its proceeds don't go to the 2024 Trump campaign.
The Biden campaign responded to Trump's latest brand deal by labeling him "a fraud."
"The choice for voters this November is clear: Joe Biden who cares about delivering for the American people, or Donald Trump who cares only about delivering for himself," Biden spokesman Ammar Moussa contended to ABC News.
Trump, for his part, has argued that his business success is part of what makes him a good politician.
It's not yet known how much money Trump has made or will make from this branded Bible, and it's not yet clear who actually owns or manages the sales, other than that the website is copyrighted to an entity named "2024 God Bless the USA Bible."
Promoting the Bible in a video posted on his social media platform, Trump said, "All Americans need a Bible in their home, and I have many."
"It's my favorite book; it's a lot of people's favorite book," he continued. "This Bible is a reminder that the biggest thing we have to bring back America, to make America great again, is our religion."
Trump has attested to his affinity for the Bible before, including in 2015. In an interview then, however, he demurred about his favorite verse because "the Bible means a lot to me, but I don't want to get into specifics."
In a speech in 2016, he called one of the books of the Bible "Two Corinthians" -- when it is more commonly known as Second Corinthians. He blamed that slip on bad notes he was given.
The former president, who spent most of his adult life as a headline-making businessman and then TV star, has often seized opportunities to make profits out of branded partnerships -- regardless of how unexpected or how successful, like a previous line of briefly sold "Trump Steaks."
Such ventures are drawing new attention as he faces large financial pressures, having to post a $175 million bond to cover a civil fraud judgment in New York that he denies while separately dealing with a significant financial campaign cash disadvantage against rival Joe Biden.
Some Christians criticized Trump for commodifying the Bible, stressing the possibility of his profit from the venture going to help pay his legal bills amid his snowballing legal battles could offend some of his religious supporters.
Anti-Trump group the Lincoln Project on Wednesday resurfaced an ad it ran back in 2022 that accused of Trump raising money from his supporters and using the money for his personal businesses, saying the Bible is "his latest grift to fund his hundreds of millions in legal costs - as if Trump has ever read a page of the bible in his life."
The new Bible he is promoting is not the only unusual merchandise he is making time to spotlight on the campaign trail.
Just last month, Trumpunveiled a similarly licensed merchandiseat SneakerCon in Philadelphia -- a golden "Never Surrender High-Top" featuring a "T" badge, wrapped with an American flag on the collar.
That appearance was the latest example of Trump's campaign mixing with his business ventures, where he autographed a few of the high-top sneakers and took the stage to tout them as he delivered campaign remarks.
The gold "Never Surrender High-Top" sneakers were sold online for $399.99, along with other Trump-branded shoes and fragrances.
Similarly to the God Bless the USA Bible, the Trump shoes and fragrances were licensed to use his name and trademarks but not designed, manufactured, distributed or sold by Trump and the Trump Organization, according to the "Trump Sneakers" website.
Both the God Bless the USA Bible and the Trump sneakers were licensed to use Trump's branding through a company named CIC Ventures LLC, which, according to Trump's financial disclosure report, is owned 100% by the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust.
CIC Ventures LLC,which reportedlystands for "Commander In Chief Ventures," is the same entity through which Trump appears to have received millions of dollars in royalties for the book "Our Journey Together," a compilation of photos by Trump's official White House photographer, published by Gold Standard Publishing LLC and sold by Donald Trump Jr. co-founded publishing company Winning Team Publishing.
MORE: Trump faces major financial disadvantage against Biden as legal bills eat into allies' cash: Filings
In the former president's financial disclosures, the royalties are disclosed under the name "A MAGA Journey," which was the book's original title.
Donald Trump also collects millions of dollars in speaking engagement fees through CIC Ventures LLC every year, his disclosure reports show.
According to its entity registration filing in Florida, CIC Ventures was once managed by former Trump White House aide Nick Luna and is currently represented by Trump attorney John B. Marion.
Trump and his wife, former first lady Melania Trump, together have also raked in at least $700,000 from Trump-branded digital trading cards -- which are a version of NFTs, or non-fungible tokens. Some of the Trumps' digital trading cards resemble him as cartoon characters, such as a superhero, whereas Melania Trump's cards feature watercolor paintings of her as well as flowers.
Last year, amid Donald Trump's mounting criminal charges -- all of which he denies -- he capitalized on his indictment in Georgia by promoting digital trading cards featuring his booking photo from the Fulton County Jail for $99 each.
The website on which the cards were sold also offered an option for some customers to potentially win a physical trading card featuring a piece of the suit he wore for the booking photo as well as an opportunity to have dinner with him at his Mar-a-Lago club.
The trading card website said the cards were not affiliated with the campaign. But the mug shot from Fulton County is something the Trump campaign has capitalized on, too --raising more than $9 millionwithin days of the release of the photo by selling various merchandiselike coffee mugs, T-shirts and posters.
Over the years, Donald Trump has raked in profits from licensing his trademark in multiple other businesses, including projects in foreign countries like China, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.
