If there’s one thing President Donald Trump knows, it’s branding. The man has been selling the Trump name for decades, letting developers all over the world stick his name on hotels. And who could forget Trump steaks, Trump wine, Trump University, and Trump vodka?
President Donald Trump promotes Trump University in 2005.
Well, it turns out that Trump feels the same way about the presidential seal.
According to Forbes, the presidential seal has now turned up at a sixth Trump golf property. This time, it was spotted hanging in his club’s dining room in Potomac Falls, Virginia. In 2024, golf markers with the presidential seal were spotted at Trump’s golf course in Westchester, New York, and since 2021, similar markers were found at golf courses in New Jersey, New York City, and two in Florida.
First, peep the dates on when those markers appeared on the first five courses—2021 through 2024. Yes, Trump was putting the presidential seal on golf markers at his private club … when he wasn’t even president.
Not only is this tacky, but it’s also illegal—whether Trump is president or not.
Federal law prohibits the use of the seal in this fashion, making it a literal crime:
Whoever knowingly displays any printed or other likeness of the great seal of the United States, or of the seals of the President or the Vice President of the United States … in, or in connection with, any advertisement, poster, circular, book, pamphlet, or other publication, public meeting, play, motion picture, telecast, or other production, or on any building, monument, or stationery, for the purpose of conveying, or in a manner reasonably calculated to convey, a false impression of sponsorship or approval by the Government of the United States or by any department, agency, or instrumentality thereof, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.
This is precisely what Trump’s doing; he’s putting the presidential seal on items for his personal commercial enterprises in a manner that implies government approval. And the fact that he continued with the whole golf marker thing is especially brazen. During his first term, the Trump Organization ordered dozens of seals to use as golf markers.
These were not small golf tees. Rather, they were 12-inch replicas of the seal to be placed at the start of each golf course to indicate where golfers should stand. When they were busted for it, a Trump International spokesperson tried to say that somehow a group of enthusiastic Trump fans gave the club the markers.
President Donald Trump plays golf at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia, in 2020.
“The plaques were presented to the club by a small group of members, who are incredible fans of the President, in honor of Presidents day [sic] weekend. They were temporary and have since been removed,” they said.
That argument quickly fell apart, though, since“Trump International” was listed as the customer who purchased the markers.
After ProPublica broke the story in 2018, the White House removed the seals, so it isn’t like Trump is unaware that he can’t do this. He just doesn’t care.
It was inevitable, really, that Trump would use the presidential seal for his private enterprises. He sees no separation between his private grift and his presidential role. Instead, he’s eager to leverage his role as president to make a personal profit.
Take his wildly corrupt crypto dinner, where people spent millions on Trump’s stupid bitcoin to get access to the president. There, Trump spoke from a lectern bearing the presidential seal, despite the White House claiming that it was not an official event.
Trump’s persistent use of the seal is half advertising gimmick, half deception about the endorsement of the government. But it’s also a symbol of Trump’s fragile ego and boundless need for attention.
Imagine being the literal president of the United States—arguably the most powerful person in the world—and being so desperate that you have to make sure that the fawning toadies who populate your golf courses see your special little seal.
Besides being illegal, it’s just pathetic.
