Former President
Donald Trump is now promoting a $60 large-print edition of the Bible that includes America's founding documents and the lyrics to Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" — a move that has drawn outrage from some Christians who find both the extra content added to the Bible and the attempt to monetize people's religious beliefs a form of sacrilege . But there's one question that still needs answering,
CNN reported on Thursday: where exactly is the money from all this going? "In addition to the multitude of theological questions it raises, Trump’s endorsement of the 'God Bless the USA' Bible coincides with several legal battles that could put the presumptive
Republican nominee for president on the line for hundreds of millions of dollars," reported A.J. Willingham. "The FAQ section of the 'God Bless America' Bible website clarifies that no proceeds from the sales of the Bible will go towards Trump’s presidential campaign. However, there is no mention of whether any proceeds could be put toward his personal legal troubles." ALSO READ: A neuroscientist reveals how Trump and Biden's cognitive impairments are different "'No, GodBlessTheUSABible.com is not political and has nothing to do with any political campaign. GodBlessTheUSABible.com is not owned, managed or controlled by Donald J. Trump, The Trump Organization, CIC Ventures LLC or any of their respective principals or affiliates,' the site reads," continued the report. "However, it goes on to say Trump’s name, likeness and image are under 'paid license from CIC Ventures LLC.' CIC Ventures is directly linked to Trump in his 2023 public financial disclosures." EliteSource Pro, the company marketing the God Bless the
USA Bible, has not yet returned comment on the matter as of press time. Trump is currently on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars from various legal judgments, including the E. Jean Carroll defamation case and the
New York civil fraud case — both of which he is appealing but has been required to post bond in. This comes at a time when his political fundraising is severely lagging behind that of President
Joe Biden. Trump Media and Technology Group, the company that handles the former president's Truth Social platform , went public this month, after a long-sought merger that creates billions in market cap. But already, the newly created stock is proving to be volatile. According to USA TODAY, "Donald Trump’s namesake
Social Media company burst out of the gate on its first day of trading Tuesday, opening at $70.90 and soaring as high as $79.38 as Trump fans and opportunistic traders bought up shares. But the price faded late in the session and has bounced along at lower levels ever since, ending Thursday down $4.26 at $61.96. Its market valuation, just over $8 billion, is still stunning for a social media fledgling with an unproven business model that has struggled to attract users and advertisers, burned through cash and wracked up losses." All of this has come as many of the founding figures at Trump's company are in active civil war, with a flurry of lawsuits surrounding the merger that made it all possible. ALSO READ: A neuroscientist reveals how Trump and Biden's cognitive impairments are different "Thursday’s slide into the red could be just the beginning, market observers say," the report continued, with University of
Florida professor Jay Ritter expecting the stock could slide all the way to $2 a share. “The stock will continue to be very volatile, with sharp moves up and down. But the long-term trend will be down,” he continued. “The company has about $2 in cash per share, but it will probably burn through that money and the most likely outcome is eventual bankruptcy.” "Trump Media’s trading has mimicked meme stocks like GameStop and AMC Entertainment, which rose to improbable heights in 2021 after individual investors organized on social media platform Reddit to drive up the stock price. Those investors aimed to strike back against hedge funds that had bet against the company and shorted the stock," the report noted. "What’s tricky is predicting when a meme stock will collapse, said Derek Horstmeyer, a finance professor at George Mason University in
Virginia, who specializes in corporate finance. The only hard-and-fast rule? 'Eventually, it does,' Horstmeyer said." Some commentators speculated that even if it does collapse, the short-term value created as much as $4 billion in wealth for the former president. However, others have noted it's not so simple for him to use that wealth to dig his way out of his expensive legal judgments and other serious problems. CONTINUE READING Show less Former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann took his time on MSNBC Wednesday to lay into former President Donald Trump for his mounting personal attacks on the family of Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing Trump's New York hush money trial — including unsubstantiated allegations about his daughter . "Andrew, I cease to be able to be surprised, except that Donald Trump is now literally making up a story about Judge Merchan's daughter, posting about it, railing about it, naming her by name," said anchor Joy Reid. "And there's still nothing anyone can do to stop it?" "It actually is something that could be stopped," said Weissmann. "There could be the gag order could apply to both the judge and the judge's family. And this is one where as a matter of grace, the judges have not imposed the gag order as to themselves. It reminds me when Amy Berman Jackson — Roger Stone had posted a picture with crosshairs next to her , and she said, you couldn't find another photo that didn't have that there? And judges, I think, bend over backwards, but it will be interesting to see whether Judge Merchan does expand it." ALSO READ: A neuroscientist reveals how Trump and Biden's cognitive impairments are different "But I would just like to step back to, it is true that you see this and you think, it's just Donald Trump. It's just Donald Trump. More of the same," Weissmann continued. "It is really important not to just normalize this. I mean, so many people talk about sort of predicting what would a Trump 2.0 administration be, and should we really think he's going to be a dictator and what will happen. And my response to that is, you can look right now at what he's doing and saying, and for people who are fair-minded, I would say, what do you say about somebody who attacks the daughter of a judge?" "That's right," said Reid. "I mean, is there no depth to which he will not descend?" Weissmann added. "It's so important to not get inured to what this is." "Yeah, and I mean the bottom line is the reason he's attacking Judge Merchan and his family is the same reason he attacks [special counsel] Jack Smith," said Reid. "They won't stop prosecuting him and he can't delay the trials anymore. He's found a way to even the delay the Georgia trial. They literally went after Fani Willis' relationship, that had nothing to do with the case. That did delay it. This is the one case he can't stop. He knows it's coming and therefore he's trying to personally destroy this man's family." Watch the video below or at the link. Andrew Weissman slams Trump for attacking judge's daughter www.youtube.com CONTINUE READING Show less Donald Trump's campaign is in chaos, and his niece says she's energized. Mary Trump , the niece of the former president and a psychologist by trade, has previously been critical of her uncle. On Thursday, she said her uncle's failures are adding up. ALSO READ: A neuroscientist reveals how Trump and Biden's cognitive impairments are different "As the RNC’s fundraising falters and Donald’s campaign spirals into chaos, I am energized!" she said in a Substack post. She then continued: "When Donald dominates the news cycle, it’s hard not to feel overwhelmed. Every bad headline has a negative impact. But then I remember something crucial: There’s usually more to the story than meets the eye. I’m determined to cut through the media noise and share with you all the good that happened this week. These are the headlines we need to remain energized and hopeful that the media largely ignored." Mary Trump goes on to highlight President Joe Biden's recent fundraising hauls. "President Biden’s $155 million+ war chest has just received another turbo boost, bringing the total of cash on hand to at least $180 million. (By comparison , between his campaign and the RNC, Donald barely has over $50 million — and continues to drain the accounts to cover his absolutely staggering legal expenses )," she wrote. "This is a development that could significantly increase Biden’s ability to influence the narrative in crucial swing states." This, she says, also tells us a lot about voter excitement for Biden. "While critics have expressed doubts about the degree to which the
Democratic base is fired up as compared to 2020, today’s $25 million fundraiser, raised with donations ranging from $250 to $500,000, should put any doubts to rest — yes, we are absolutely behind President Biden and Vice President Harris and we’re in this fight until the end," she wrote. Read the full post here. CONTINUE READING Show less