MAGA shop closes down after sales dip with owner blaming Trump’s Iran war
It’s been a tumultuous few weeks for Donald Trump’s administration.
The ongoing war in Iran, dropping an expletive-ridden Truth Social post saying ‘Praise to Allah’, and the firing of both Kristi Noem and Pam Bondi have sent tsunami waves through the US political sphere.
Now, a store which sells Trump and right-wing merchandise has shut down, with its owner blaming the Iran War for the plummeting sales.
The Trump Truth Store sits in Crystal Lake, Chicago, one of the more conservative suburbs of the Midwest city. It’s one of more than fifty dotting states around the country.
The store boasts t-shirts with slogans like ‘God, Guns and Trump 2024’ and ‘Department of Doge’ for the most hardline supporters of the administration.
Owner Lisa Fleischmann told the Chicago Tribune that sales at her business began plummeting after Trump launched the war in Iran on February 28.
‘Sales were really slow. It all started with the war. It was dead as a door nail the minute that happened,’ she said.
The war has split Trump’s base down the middle – many of his supporters are still sticking by him – but others are questioning the intervention.
Last month, Trump voters told Metro they were outraged over what they fear could turn into another lengthy war. Others praised military action, which, they say, ‘should have happened years ago’.
Fleischmann said she thinks customers aren’t buying any merchandise because they don’t know what’s going on with Trump’s war.
‘I think a majority of people are unsure what’s going on… And if you wear it, they feel someone might come up to them and ask them questions,’ she said.
In a Facebook post announcing its closure until further notice, the owner added: ‘I am not even making ½ of my rent.
‘I never did this for the money, but I don’t know how much longer I can last paying for all the stuff.’
Still, Fleischmann said she thinks that sales will increase again once Trump gets the Iran War under control.
Still, earlier today, Trump said he wasn’t worried ‘at all’ about committing alleged war crimes in Iran.
Asked again about the issue, he said Iran’s leaders were ‘animals’ who had killed tens of thousands of protesters.
Trump also said that if it were up to him, he would seize Iran’s oil, but that ‘unfortunately, the American people would like to see us come home” and end the war.
‘I’d keep the oil, and I would make plenty of money,’ Trump said.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.