T-shirts with image of Trump raising fist after attempted coup are on sale in China

BANGKOK — Images of that moment have already made headlines around the world and appeared in many corners of the internet: Former President Donald Trump, his ear bleeding, his right hand clenched into a fist, the Secret Service agents surrounding him after being shot.

Now you can buy them on T-shirts for as little as $4 on Chinese e-commerce platforms.

Over the weekend, Chinese retailers rushed to Taobao and JD.com, the country’s two largest e-commerce platforms, to cash in on images of the attempted assassination attempt on Trump at a rally on Saturday.

“Make America Great Again,” one T-shirt read, according to screenshots circulating online. “Shooting Makes Me Stronger,” another read.

The jerseys feature a variety of photos capturing the moment, including one of the most memorable shots by Associated Press photographer Evan Vucci.

While people around the world have come to recognize the power of images, Chinese manufacturers are particularly well-positioned to quickly jump on something that’s trendy and turn it into a product. It’s the world’s factory floor, and its highly competitive domestic e-commerce industry means its smaller retailers are poised to capitalize on all sorts of consumer product trends.

Many of the shirts were no longer readily available on Monday. A search for “Trump T-shirt” on JD yielded no results, while Taobao turned up other Trump shirts.

However, when asked, some retailers were able to provide hidden links to the goods — other T-shirts could be found by typing in Trump’s Chinese nickname for a while.

It’s unclear why the shirts were hidden, but China’s domestic internet, which is largely isolated from the global internet, is controlled by an extensive censorship system that also monitors its online trading sites. The use of the images could raise copyright concerns.

“The Associated Press is proud of Evan Vucci’s photograph and appreciates its impact,” said Lauren Easton, AP’s vice president of corporate communications. “We also reserve the rights to this powerful image.”

An AP journalist was able to order a T-shirt with an image of that moment for 61 yuan ($8), even though the original link said the shirt was no longer available. A customer service representative said it violated regulations, without elaborating, but then provided a link to order the shirt.

Another Taobao store offered five different T-shirts, all based on photos from Saturday’s rally, when asked if they had any depicting the Trump shooting. They were selling for 34.9 yuan ($4).

On Monday, a search for “Trump Jianguo” turned up stores selling T-shirts with images from the rally — though the results got worse as the day wore on.

Trump Jianguo began being used as a pseudonym on the Chinese internet when Trump was in power. Jianguo — which means “build the country” — was a popular patriotic name for men in the 1950s and 1960s, when the Communist People’s Republic of China was young. The nickname is a dig at people who felt that some of Trump’s policies actually helped China, despite his sometimes fiery rhetoric.

Chinese entrepreneurs have long done big business by capitalizing on the Trump name, as most of the candidate’s goods during the 2020 election were produced in the Chinese wholesale hub of Yiwu.

Alibaba, which owns Taobao, and JD.com did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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AP journalist Caroline Chen in Beijing contributed to this report.