When it comes to China, Donald Trump was particularly severe, calling the country a thief who steals American jobs, and with a smile on his lips he has the Bibles of “God Bless the USA” published in China. About 120000 Bibles printed by a Chinese firm in Hangzhou were exported to the US earlier this year based on trade data, something that will not go well with Trump’s rhetoric against China.
The Bibles have been sold at a minimum of $59.99 each, for which they offer a potential revenue of almost $7 million considering their very low production cost of less than $3 per book. Funny, but Trump and his co-critical of China, especially during his presidency when he placed tariffs on China and accused the Asian giant of spreading coronavirus, does the same thing to print Bibles for business profits.
The biggest consignment of 70,000 Bibles reached the Port of Los Angeles two days after Trump shared a video hawking the ‘God Bless the USA’ Bible that he marketed alongside country singer Lee Greenwood. This Bible edition is actually from the patriotic song named by Greenwood and in its appearance it is marked as a presentation of the American spirit, which also embraces the Scripture, as well as the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, and the Pledge of Allegiance. Trump also said that this Bible is a return to America, to faith and patriotism stating that the two are under assault when it comes to modern America.
But Trump failed to inform his followers that these Bibles are produced in one of the biggest rivals, China. Opinion leaders suffer to explain why after putting their brand into a product to represent American pride, the markup is extremely expensive. A hand-signed version of the bible also costs $1,000. While the website, which sells Bibles, is run by Independent Bible distributors, it uses Trump‘s name and picture under the licensing agreement with CIC Ventures, a company owned by Trump. Another self-generated document shows that CIC Ventures received a total of $300,000 in Bible royalties but it is difficult to tell how many millions Trump APP makes.
This revelation has heightened the continuous discussion of Trump’s business conduct as analysts raised concerns about the self-serving of the president. Trump, who recently exempted Bibles and other religious texts from his tariffs on Chinese goods may make some revenues if states like Oklahoma where officials plan to purchase 55,000 of these Bibles for use in the school system go ahead with their plans.
China has been one of the largest producers and suppliers of Bibles to the world simply because it offered cheap labor for manufacturing Bibles. However, detractors have noticed that Trump who has rigorously campaigned against China, has outsourced Bible production to the country. When asked about the orders, Tammy Tang, a sales representative from New Ade Cultural Media the firm that prints the Bibles said that the orders were received through WhatsApp though she could not reveal more information about the buyer.
Members of the public have described this as a political and a religious affair, a combination that has been down referred to as a ‘toxic cocktail.’ Others stereotypically have considered it as blasphemous, arguing that putting Scriptures in tandem with legal writing can lead to Christian nationalism. Some have criticized it, claiming that this product reduces the Bible to global and spiritual guidance to political goals or nationalism. As for the physical product that is the Bible, reviews have accused it of shoddy workmanship and such barriers to use as sticky pages and inadequate or no copyright claim.
Earlier, Trump used religious elements with his campaign agenda, but the link between the “God Bless the USA” Bible and China has created more tensions given his anti-China campaign. This is because the controversy is further compounded as the former president presents other products and projects in the buildup to the 2024 election.
To dive deeper into the global implications of Trump’s trade policies, read this analysis of U.S.-China trade relations.
