A bombshell report from His Majesty's Treasury has laid bare the scale of Donald Trump's licensing business while he occupied the Oval Office. The former president raked in millions from deals ranging from Bibles to perfume to the Home Alone franchise. The findings are a gift to Labour and the Liberal Democrats, who have long accused him of blurring the lines between public office and private profit.
The report, quietly published on the Treasury's website late Thursday, details over 100 licensing agreements signed between 2017 and 2021. The total? North of $150 million. Trump's brand, it seems, was a cash cow even as he held the nuclear codes.
Take the Bibles. A deal with a Florida-based publisher saw Trump's name slapped on a leather-bound King James version, complete with his signature on the cover. Sales exceeded $10 million. Then there's the perfume. The Trump Tower fragrance, 'Success', generated $3.2 million in royalties. The Home Alone reboots? A cool $8 million for licensing Trump's image and catchphrases.
But it's the timing that's explosive. These deals were signed while Trump was in office, and the Treasury report raises serious questions about potential conflicts of interest. No evidence of direct quid pro quos, but the optics are dreadful. The report notes that many of these agreements were with companies that later sought favours from the Trump administration.
Downing Street is on the back foot. The Prime Minister's spokesman called the report "thorough" but stressed it was "purely informational." Labour's Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves was less diplomatic. "This is a damning indictment of Trump's corruption. It shows he was running a business empire from the White House," she said.
But the real intrigue is in the backrooms. Westminster is buzzing with whispers that the report was deliberately leaked by Treasury officials to undermine the Government's close ties with Trump. Sources close to the Chancellor say he was blindsided by the publication. "This was not our doing," one aide told me.
The report landing now is hardly a coincidence. With Trump eyeing a return to the White House, the UK needs to show it's not in his pocket. The Treasury report is a subtle nudge to voters back home that British values of transparency still matter.
Yet the damage may already be done. The report's release comes as polls show the Tories struggling on ethics. A recent YouGov survey had 68% of voters saying they believed politicians were "all in it for themselves." This report is catnip for those cynics.
Conservative MPs are divided. The Trump faction sees it as a non-story, a bureaucratic exercise. "The man sold perfume. So what?" one backbencher scoffed. But nervous moderates fear it will become a stick to beat them with. "We need to distance ourselves, fast," a former minister told me.
What happens next? The Treasury has referred the report to the Electoral Commission for potential campaign finance violations. But don't hold your breath. The Commission is notoriously slow, and this could drag on past the next election.
For now, the story is in the detail. The report lists every deal, every payment, every handshake. It's a treasure trove for opposition researchers and a headache for anyone who ever shook Trump's hand.
One thing is clear: the myth that Trump left his business behind when he entered the White House is dead. The Treasury has killed it.
