Donald Trump is leaning all the way into the chaos. His campaign is now selling T-shirts that feature his Georgia mugshot — with the word “DADDY” printed in bold letters across the front.
Price tag: $27. Target audience: MAGA diehards who apparently love it when world leaders call Trump “Daddy.”
The new merch drop follows an eyebrow-raising moment earlier this week when NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte jokingly referred to Trump as “daddy” during a press event.
Trump’s team wasted no time. A message blasted out from the Trump National Committee Joint Fundraising Committee on Thursday shouted: “THEY’RE CALLING ME DADDY!”
The email continued in classic Trump fashion: “When Biden was President, we were LAUGHED at on the world stage. The whole world WALKED ALL OVER US!”
“But thanks to your favorite President (ME!) we are respected once again,” it read. “Moments ago, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte called me DADDY on the world stage. How nice!”
This all began during a NATO summit in The Hague, where Rutte and Trump sat down to discuss tensions between Israel and Iran.
Trump, never one to downplay a conflict, told reporters: “We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f* they’re doing, do you understand that?”**
At the summit, he kept going: “They’ve got a big fight, like two kids in a schoolyard. You know, they fight like hell. You can’t stop them, let them fight for two, three minutes, then it’s easier to stop them…”
Rutte chimed in with the now-famous line: “And then daddy has to, sometimes, use strong language.”
“Strong language, yeah, every once in a while,” Trump replied with a smile.
Reporters jumped on the moment, asking Trump if he saw other nations as children. He didn’t back off.
“He likes me. If he doesn’t, I’ll let you know, I’ll come back, and I’ll hit him hard,” Trump said. “He did it very affectionately. ‘Daddy, you’re my daddy.’”
Later, Rutte tried to walk it back, saying his “daddy” line was meant to illustrate how European nations rely on U.S. leadership.
“What I said is that, sometimes, in Europe, I hear sometimes countries saying, ‘Hey, Mark, will the U.S. stay with us?’” Rutte explained.
“And I said that sounds a little bit like a small child asking his daddy, ‘Hey, are you still staying with the family?’”
But Trump’s team didn’t wait for clarification. They turned it into a punchline — and a product.
This isn’t the first time Trump’s mugshot has been turned into a money-maker. It’s been used on everything from Christmas wrapping paper to coffee mugs, and now, “DADDY” gear.
The Trump campaign has sent over 1,000 fundraising emails since Trump took office again, frequently tying merchandise to controversies and media moments. The latest drop includes not just the “DADDY” tee, but also MAGA hats with slogans like “Gulf of America” and “DOGE.” Some even come with mock executive orders for $43.
There are also shirts commemorating the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, from last year.
In Trump’s MAGAverse, no moment is too strange, no phrase too ridiculous — and no scandal too sacred — to slap on a T-shirt.
