STERLING, Va. — Weeks after a stern cease-and-desist letter threatening legal action over its Trump merchandise, the Loudoun County Republican Committee (LCRC) chairman said they’ve been cleared of any troubles by the former president himself.
In their monthly meeting in Sterling on Monday, Chair Scott Pio announced he had an impromptu sit-down with former President Donald Trump in the county over the weekend. During the 10-minute exchange, Pio claimed Trump was unaware of the letter and had no issue with the merchandise. Trump agreed it was a misunderstanding, according to Pio.
“President Trump instructed his national policy director to put a stop to it,” Pio announced to a cheerful crowd. “The Trump political director told me in writing that the Trump campaign of Virginia and the Trump campaign of the nation takes no stance on the merchandise on our website.”
The letter was sent on Aug. 6 by David Warrington of Dhillon Law Group. The letter said he was selling merchandising through the Loudoun GOP website without the campaign’s permission.
“Your attempt to capitalize on the assassination attempt of President Trump was in extremely poor taste,” the letter read.
“In fact, your sale of bootleg Trump merchandise comes in direct defiance of the Campaign’s polite requests to stop misappropriating President Trump’s name, image, and likeness and to stop trying to profit off of the assassination attempt,” the letter said.
LCRC member Wallace Judd found the situation to be confusing saying “it was really, really petty to enforce their copyright on the shirt.”
Despite the letter, Pio continued to sell the merchandise — from $35 t-shirts to $15.52 mugs — using the famous Associated Press photo of Trump moments after the assassination attempt in Pennsylvania in July.
“That imagery should be shown to the general public and to the people that don't always vote,” Pio told WUSA9. “I need to get as many Republicans engaged, patriotic, and active as humanly possible and with the merchandise, people do buy it, they do wear it and wear it around town and hopefully that engages more Republicans.”
WUSA9 has reached out to both the Trump campaign and Warrington for comment but haven’t heard back.
The committee sold up to 90 shirts before the meeting, which had tables for the merchandise.
The meeting was the first since Vice President Kamala Harris announced her run for presidency.
The group strategized ways to motivate people to choose Trump this election.
“I think he's going to be a much more effective president because he understands politics in a way he didn't before,” Judd added.
Earlier Monday, Trump made a stop at a Vietnamese restaurant in Falls Church. He was already because he attended a wreath laying ceremony in Arlington, where he placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on the third anniversary of the Kabul Afghanistan airport attack.