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Through a sea of boos (and some cheers) Donald Trump announced his inaugural venture into the sneaker world at Philadelphia’s Sneaker Con. The Saturday launch marked the first time a former U.S. president has unveiled a sneaker line — and some say that’s for good reason.
The metallic gold high tops — priced at $400 and limited to 1,000 pairs — sold out within the day. But sneakerheads say they aren’t the ones purchasing them.
» READ MORE: Trump unveiled his line of gold sneakers at Sneaker Con in Philadelphia
Online, the shoes were quickly mocked for their slightly off resemblance to Nike Air Force 1′s and Jordan 1′s.
“Scammer 1′s,” Alvin Blanco at Hip-Hop Wired called them in a viral tweet. “Those the January 6′s” another post said, referencing the 2021 attack in which Trump supporters stormed the Capitol as Joe Biden’s presidential victory was being certified. Their official title is the “Never Surrender Gold Hi-Tops.”
In Philadelphia, the response to the sneakers themselves was tepid at best and hateful at worst. At Sneaker Con, Trump said of the audible boos and groans, “there’s a lot of emotion in this room.”
“Philadelphians would literally boo god,” local author Kim Kelly said in response to a video circulating of the exchange. “[I don’t know] why he thought this would go well for him.”
Within the sneaker community, the announcement by the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination has raised eyebrows for both aesthetic and political reasons. What place does a politician have at a sneaker conference geared toward streetwear, collecting, and re-selling rare shoes?
Jeneene Bailey-Allen of Southwest Philly, the founder of ASGNMT, a community for women sneakerheads and women’s streetwear, was at Sneaker Con when Trump announced his new line, though not in the room.
“I have to say, I’m not a fan,” she said. “Personally, I find them gaudy and wouldn’t even touch them if they were free.”
Bailey-Allen said she was disappointed that Sneaker Con brought politics into the event space.
“[It’s a] community where we typically share a commonality regardless of other noise,” she said. “It felt distasteful, thoughtless, and insensitive to those who support the event and help it reach the points it has.”
“Sneaker Con’s mission is to support and promote sneaker culture through our worldwide live events and digital platforms,” organizers said in a statement posted on Instagram. “We are thankful and appreciative of the sneaker community, and recognize individuals who generate awareness and authentic sneaker related engagement towards our community.”
Sneaker Con organizers did not respond to a request for further comment on Trump’s appearance as of publication time.
As for the sneaker itself? “I’d rather not acknowledge it exists,” Bailey-Allen said.
Others around Philly, like well-known suburban TikToker Alex Pearlman, compared Trump’s gold shoes to spray-painted sneakers at the Mummers parade.
Here’s what else to know about the sneaker drop.
Who’s selling the Trump sneakers?
The sneakers were available via a new website called gettrumpsneakers.com which Trump announced at Sneaker Con.
The website says it’s run by CIC Ventures LLC and that the products on the site are “registered trademarks and/or trademarks of CIC Ventures LLC.” It also says that “Trump Sneakers are not designed, manufactured, distributed or sold by Donald J. Trump, The Trump Organization or any of their respective affiliates or principals.”
But Trump reported owning CIC Ventures LLC in his 2023 financial disclosure.
Where are the Trump sneakers made?
Details on where the shoes are being produced are not disclosed on the company’s website. Manufacturing details have not been made available.
Are the shoes being resold yet?
Oh yeah. As of Monday morning, more than 30 pairs were listed on eBay for thousands of dollars. At least 50 pairs appear to have already been sold on eBay, though there’s no way to know if all the sales are authentic.
The shoes also haven’t been distributed yet. They were only available for pre-sale with an estimated ship date of July. In turn, re-sales of the shoes are technically re-sales of pre-orders.
The shoes are not yet available on sneaker resale sites StockX or GOAT yet because buyers do not have them in hand.
There’s a cologne, too?
And a perfume. In addition to the $399 high tops, the Get Trump Sneaker page has two low-top athletic style sneakers — the T-Red Wave and the POTUS 45 — priced at $199 each. There’s also a cologne and perfume, each called Victory47 both priced at $99. Everything besides the gold high tops is still available for purchase.
It’s unclear what they smell like. According to the website, cologne has notes of “cedar heart, underpinned by a rich base of leather and amber” and the perfume has a “blend of light floral notes, hints of citrus zest, and a whisper of spice.”
Are there knockoff Trump sneakers?
Give it a few days. There’s already a similar pair of high tops listed on Temu for $18 without the American flag on the side. On Reddit, some users have suggested it would be easy to manipulate the pair to look like Trump’s.
