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It Isn’t a Very Merry Christmas for the Trump Tree Ornament

It Isn’t a Very Merry Christmas for the Trump Tree Ornament

(Bloomberg) -- It comes in a golden box, nestled in black velvet (or is it velveteen?). Before you even unpack it, you’re excited to see it through a little plastic window. After all, you paid $149 for it.

At least, that was the price when it first went on sale a year ago, before it was cut to $99 and, eventually, to $45.

It Isn’t a Very Merry Christmas for the Trump Tree Ornament

The rapidly depreciating asset: a “collectible ornament” in the form of a red brass Make America Great Again cap. The item, said to be finished in 24-karat gold, is sold on a website to which the “shop” button on President Donald Trump’s site links. The shopping site says it is paid for by the Trump Make America Great Again Committee, “a joint fundraising committee authorized by and composed of Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. and the Republican National Committee.” Life-size MAGA caps on the site sell for $25, unless you choose the Official Merry Christmas Hat, at $45. That’s the MAGA cap with Christmas lights stitched on.

You can also buy the ornament on eBay, where it attracted some snarky comments after it went on sale in late 2016, including "No matter where I hang it, the tree leans waaaaaay over to the far right" and "It wants to deport my nativity scene!" The only apparent eBay review so far this year: “This well-crafted and decorative item can be a yearly reminder of how great a country we live in, regardless of politics, of where anything is possible.” 

The ornament’s price and the president’s approval rating have both fallen:

It Isn’t a Very Merry Christmas for the Trump Tree Ornament

 

It Isn’t a Very Merry Christmas for the Trump Tree Ornament

Yet the S&P 500 has surged on Trump’s watch:

It Isn’t a Very Merry Christmas for the Trump Tree Ornament

Of course, it is the ninth year of the bull market.

Or, put another way:

It Isn’t a Very Merry Christmas for the Trump Tree Ornament

Happy holidays.

To contact the author of this story: Suzanne Woolley in New York at swoolley2@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Jeffrey at pjeffrey@bloomberg.net, Vincent Bielski

©2017 Bloomberg L.P.