Over 100,000 Trump ‘God Bless USA’ Bibles Printed in China

Global trade records reviewed by The Associated Press show that a printing company in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou shipped nearly 120,000 Bibles to the United States between early February and late March.

The estimated value of the three separate shipments was $342,000, or less than $3 per Bible, according to databases that use customs data to track exports and imports. The minimum price for the Trump-endorsed Bible is $59.99, bringing the potential sales revenue to about $7 million.

The previously unreported link between the Trump Bible and China reveals a deep divide between the former president’s tough anti-China rhetoric and his rush to cash in while campaigning.

The Trump campaign did not respond to emails and calls seeking comment.

Trump says his Bibles would help America

The largest and most recent shipment of 70,000 copies of Trump’s Bible arrived on a container ship at the Port of Los Angeles on March 28, two days after Trump announced in a video posted on his Truth Social platform that he collaborated with country singer Lee Greenwood. to sell Bibles.

In the video, Trump combined religion with his campaign message, urging viewers to buy the Bible, inspired by Greenwood’s ballad, “God Bless the USA.” The Bible includes copies of the US Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the Pledge of Allegiance.

“This Bible reminds us that the greatest thing we have to bring back to America, and to make America great again, is our religion,” Trump said. Judeo-Christian values, he added, are “under attack, perhaps like never before.”

Trump did not say where the God Bless the USA Bibles are printed or how much they cost; a hand-signed copy by the former president sells for $1,000. Trump also did not disclose how much he earns per sale.

A $59.99 version of the Bible commemorates the July 13 assassination attempt on the former president in Pennsylvania. Trump’s name is on the cover above the phrase, “The Day God Intervened.” The wording appears to have been stamped after the Bible was produced. Trump said Saturday that his would-be assassin failed “by the hand of providence and the grace of God.”

The Bibles are sold exclusively through a website that says it is not affiliated with any political campaign, nor is it owned or controlled by Trump.

A photo posted to the website shows Trump sitting at his desk in the Oval Office with Greenwood standing next to him. In another photo, the former president smiles broadly while holding a copy of the Bible.

Trump’s name and image are licensed

The website states that Trump’s name and image are used under a paid license from CIC Ventures, a company Trump reported owning in his most recent financial disclosure. According to the disclosure, CIC Ventures earned $300,000 in royalties from the sale of the Bible. It’s unclear what period it covers or how much Trump has received in additional payments since the disclosure was made public in August.

The AP did not receive a response to questions sent to an email from the Bible website and to a publicist for Greenwood.

For years, Trump has criticized Beijing as an obstacle to America’s economic success, placing heavy tariffs on Chinese imports during his presidency and threatening even tougher measures if he is re-elected. He has blamed China for the COVID-19 outbreak and recently suggested, without evidence, that thousands of Chinese immigrants are flooding the US to build an “army” and attack America.

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

The network of businesses has raised concerns about conflicts of interest. Selling products at prices that exceed their value can 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.

“We have to assume that everything the individual does is done as a candidate and so that any money that goes to them benefits them as a candidate,” Finkelstein said. “Suppose Vladimir Putin bought Trump a watch. Is it a campaign finance violation? I would think so.”

Selling Bibles, she added, “seems to me a deeply problematic mix of religion and state.”

Potential conflicts of interest

As president, Trump would be able to influence policies and markets to the benefit of businesses in which he and his family have financial stakes. During his time as president, his administration exempted Bibles and other religious texts from tariffs imposed on billions of dollars of Chinese goods.

There is a potentially lucrative opportunity for Trump to sell 55,000 of the “God Bless the USA” Bibles in Oklahoma after the state’s top official ordered public schools to incorporate Scripture into lessons for grades 5 through 12. Oklahoma plans to spend $3 million on Bibles that originally corresponded to Trump’s edition: a King James Version containing the founding documents of the US. The request was revised on Monday to allow the US historical documents to be linked with the Bible or provided separately.

The Oklahoma Department of Education did not respond to questions from the AP about whether the Bibles must be printed in the United States or whether any department officials have discussed the proposal with Trump or his representatives.

“There are hundreds of Bible publishers, and we expect strong competition for this proposal,” said department spokesman Dan Isett.

Chinese Printing Office confirms deliveries

China is one of the world’s leading producers of Bibles, so it is not unusual for the Trump-approved version to be printed there.

The first shipment of Trump Bibles was labeled “God Bless USA,” according to information from the Panjiva and Import Genius databases. The other two were described as “Bibles”. All the books were delivered by New Ade Cultural Media, a Hangzhou-based printing company that describes itself as a “custom Bible book maker.” They were sent to Freedom Park Design, an Alabama company that the databases identified as the importer of the Bibles.

Tammy Tang, a sales representative for New Ade, told the AP that all three shipments were “God Bless USA” Bibles. She said New Ade received the orders through the WhatsApp messaging service and confirmed they were from Freedom Park Design. The books were printed on presses near the company’s Hangzhou office, she said. Tang did not disclose the sale price or other details, citing customer confidentiality.

“They didn’t come to meet us,” Tang said by phone. “We just do the production.”

She declined further comment and referred interview requests to Freedom Park Design.

Freedom Park Design was incorporated in Florida on March 1, according to business records. An aspiring country singer named Jared Ashley is the company’s president. He also co-founded 16 Creative, a digital marketing firm that uses the same Gulf Shores address and processes online orders for branded merchandise sold by animators and authors.

Ashley hung up on a reporter who called to ask about Bibles.

Greenwood is a client of 16 Creative, according to the company’s website. He released the American Flag Bible in 2021. His song, “God Bless the USA,” was released 40 years ago and is a staple at Trump rallies. Greenwood also appeared at the former president’s campaign events.

Critics Call Trump’s Bible a ‘Toxic Mix’

The King James Version used in the Trump Bible is in the public domain. Greenwood had originally planned to use the new international best-seller, licensed in North America by HarperCollins Christian Publishing. But the publisher abandoned the arrangement amid pressure from religious scholars and authors who denounced the fusion of Scripture and government documents as a “toxic mix” that would fuel feelings of Christian nationalism in evangelical churches.

Christian nationalism is a movement that fuses American and Christian values, symbols, and identity and seeks to privilege Christianity in public life. Christian nationalists are likely to believe that the US Constitution was inspired by God and that the federal government should declare the US a Christian nation.

Other critics have deemed Trump’s Bible blasphemous.

“Religiously taking what has long been understood as a global message and stamping it with the flag of a single nation is the kind of thing that theologians have called heresy for centuries,” said Brian Kaylor, a Baptist pastor and president of Christian media company Word&Way. .

“The Love of Money”

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 “God Bless USA” Bible arrived wrapped in plastic in a padded folder.

It had a faux leather cover and the words were stuck together on the pages, making it hard to read. He also found sticky pages that tore when unfolded, and there was no copyright page or information about who printed the Bible or where.

“I was shocked at how poor the quality was,” Wildsmith said. “It tells me it’s more about the love of money than the love of our country.”