For those wondering the whole "That Largely feature photos in the public domain." is literally just rage bait so people click. That's the entire point of public domain. Anyone can use and profit from them lmfao.
The actual headline should read. "Donald Trump suspected of money laundering $5.75 million through his book publisher."
Unfortunately it's Forbes. So it's partly paywalled and basically useless for sharing lol.
Isn’t the whole point of the public domain that anyone can make use of them and everyone can benefit from various creative uses of them without needing to pay/ask permission? While I may not be a fan of the person benefiting here, this seems like a normal use of public domain works.
Money laundering, or rather I should say payoffs. Trump is a pay to play type of guy, so someone is paying him for something thru deceptive shit like this. This is no different than someone paying several million for a piece of art that clearly is not worth that price.
In the article, clear indicators that this was a money laundering exercise are described.
A spokesperson for his publisher, a company cofounded by Donald Trump Jr. and a former campaign staffer named Sergio Gor, said “Our Journey Together” sold more than 500,000 copies. The representative refused to provide documentation to back up that figure, which Forbes was unable to independently verify.
NPD BookScan, an industry data service, tracked 10,200 sales at retailers through January 2023. NPD BookScan doesn’t track purchases directly from a book’s website, though, which appears to have been a major sales avenue for “Our Journey Together.”
Just 2% (10,200) of the quoted sales (500,000 copies) is able to be validated from booksellers.
In 2022, the former president’s joint fundraising committee and political action committee paid Winning Team Publishing, which released the book, $231,000.
So they paid the publisher 4% ($231,000) to receive payment ($5,750,000)?
“Our Journey Together’s” $5.75 million payout dwarfed the other royalty payments Trump reported receiving over the past 18 months. “The Art of the Deal,” published in 1987, brought in somewhere between $100,000 and $1 million, according to the filing, which lists the income of Trump’s older books in broad ranges. Four other books each earned him $5,000 to $15,000, one made $2,500 to $5,000 and 10 earned less than $200.
So he made $5 million more with a book which is totally comprised of content from the public domain than his previous (and trackable) pride and joy?
Oh, and..
Trump also disclosed that Winning Team Publishing paid his wife, Melania, $250,000 in licensing fees. The spokesperson said that payment was for promoting “Our Journey Together.”
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