{"id":25276,"date":"2024-10-19T18:03:39","date_gmt":"2024-10-20T00:03:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/trumps-god-bless-the-usa-bibles-printed-in-china\/"},"modified":"2024-10-20T00:03:39","modified_gmt":"2024-10-20T00:03:39","slug":"trumps-god-bless-the-usa-bibles-printed-in-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/trumps-god-bless-the-usa-bibles-printed-in-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s \u2018God Bless the USA\u2019 Bibles printed in China"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"The
The Bill of Rights is printed in Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump's \"God Bless the USA\" Bible in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo\/Ben Curtis)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Ben Curtis)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

WASHINGTON \u2013 Thousands of copies of Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cGod Bless the USA\u201d Bible were printed in a country that the former president has repeatedly accused of stealing American jobs and engaging in unfair trade practices: China.<\/p>\n

Global trade records reviewed by The Associated Press show a printing company in China\u2019s eastern city of Hangzhou shipped close to 120,000 of the Bibles to the United States earlier this year.<\/p>\n

The estimated value of the three separate shipments was $342,000, or less than $3 per Bible, according to databases that track exports and imports. The minimum price for the Trump-backed Bible is $59.99, putting the potential sales revenue at about $7 million.<\/p>\n

The Trump Bible\u2019s connection to China reveals a deep divide between the former president\u2019s harsh anti-China rhetoric and his efforts to raise cash while campaigning.<\/p>\n

The Trump campaign did not respond to emails and calls seeking comment.<\/p>\n

In a March 26 video posted on his Truth Social platform, Trump announced a partnership with country singer Lee Greenwood to hawk the Bibles, inspired by Greenwood\u2019s \u201cGod Bless the USA\u201d hit song.<\/p>\n

In the video, Trump blended religion with his campaign message as he urged viewers to buy the Bible, which includes copies of the U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights and Pledge of Allegiance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis Bible is a reminder that the biggest thing we have to bring back in America, and to make America great again, is our religion,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n

Trump didn\u2019t say where the \u201cGod Bless the USA\u201d Bibles are printed, what they cost or how much he earns per sale. A version of the $59.99 Bible memorializes the July 13 assassination attempt on the former president in Pennsylvania. Trump\u2019s name is stamped on the cover above the phrase, \u201cThe Day God Intervened.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bibles are sold exclusively through a website that states it is not affiliated with any political campaign nor is it owned or controlled by Trump.<\/p>\n

The website states that Trump\u2019s name and image are used under a paid license from CIC Ventures, a company Trump reported owning in a financial disclosure released in August. CIC Ventures earned $300,000 in Bible sales royalties, according to the disclosure. It\u2019s unclear if Trump has received additional payments.<\/p>\n

AP received no response to questions sent to the Bible website and to a publicist for Greenwood.<\/p>\n

For years, Trump has castigated Beijing as an obstacle to America\u2019s economic success, slapping hefty tariffs on Chinese imports while president and threatening even more stringent measures if he\u2019s elected again. He blamed China for the COVID-19 outbreak and recently suggested, without evidence, that Chinese immigrants are flooding the U.S. to build an \u201carmy\u201d and attack America.<\/p>\n

But Trump also has an eye on his personal finances. Pitching Bibles is one of a dizzying number of for-profit ventures he\u2019s launched or promoted, including diamond-encrusted watches, sneakers, photo books, cryptocurrency and digital trading cards.<\/p>\n

The web of enterprises has stoked conflict of interest concerns. Selling products at prices that exceed their value may be considered a campaign contribution, said Claire Finkelstein, founder of the nonpartisan Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law and a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to assume that everything that the individual does is being done as a candidate and so that any money that flows through to him benefits him as a candidate,\u201d Finkelstein said. \u201cSuppose Vladimir Putin were to buy a Trump watch. Is that a campaign finance violation? I would think so.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a potentially lucrative opportunity for Trump to sell 55,000 of the Bibles to Oklahoma after the state\u2019s education department ordered public schools to incorporate Scripture into lessons. Oklahoma plans to buy Bibles that initially matched Trump\u2019s edition: a King James Version that contains the U.S. founding documents. The request was revised Monday to allow the U.S. historical documents to be bound with the Bible or provided separately.<\/p>\n

The first delivery of Trump Bibles was labeled \u201cGod Bless USA,\u201d according to the information from the Panjiva and Import Genius databases. The other two were described as \u201cBibles.\u201d All the books were shipped by New Ade Cultural Media, a printing company in Hangzhou, to Freedom Park Design, a company in Alabama that databases identified as the importer of the Bibles.<\/p>\n

Tammy Tang, a sales representative for New Ade, told AP all three shipments were \u201cGod Bless the USA\u201d Bibles. She said New Ade received the orders from Freedom Park Design via the WhatsApp messaging service. The books were printed on presses near the company\u2019s office, she said.<\/p>\n

Freedom Park Design was incorporated in Florida on March 1. An aspiring country singer named Jared Ashley is the company\u2019s president. He also cofounded 16 Creative, a marketing firm that uses the same Gulf Shores address and processes online orders for branded merchandise.<\/p>\n

Ashley hung up on a reporter who called to ask about the Bibles. Greenwood is a client of 16 Creative, according to the firm\u2019s website. He launched the American-flag emblazoned Bible in 2021.<\/p>\n

Religious scholars have denounced the merger of Scripture and government documents as a \u201ctoxic mix\u201d that would fuel Christian nationalism, a movement that fuses American and Christian values, symbols and identity and seeks to privilege Christianity in public life. Other critics have called the Trump Bible blasphemous.<\/p>\n

Tim Wildsmith, a Baptist minister who reviews Bibles on his YouTube channel, said he quickly noticed the signs of a cheaply made book when his \u201cGod Bless the USA\u201d Bible arrived in the mail.<\/p>\n

It had a faux leather cover, and words were jammed together on the pages, making it hard to read. He also found sticky pages that ripped when pulled apart, and there was no copyright page or information about who printed the Bible, or where.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was shocked by how poor the quality of it was,\u201d Wildsmith said. \u201cIt says to me that it\u2019s more about the love of money than it is the love of our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The
The front cover of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump's \u201cGod Bless the USA\u201d Bible. (Ben Curtis\/The Associated Press)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Ben Curtis)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The front cover of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump's \u201cGod Bless the USA\u201d Bible in Washington. (Ben Curtis\/The Associated Press)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Ben Curtis)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The Constitution of the United States is printed in Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump's \u201cGod Bless the USA\u201d Bible. (Ben Curtis\/The Associated Press)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Ben Curtis)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The Pledge of Allegiance is printed in Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump's \u201cGod Bless the USA\u201d Bible. (Ben Curtis\/The Associated Press)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Ben Curtis)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

estimated at $3 per Bible, with a price of $59<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25277,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-25276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25276"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=25276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}