Donald Trump, perpetual provocateur-in-chief, has caused outrage again—this time with “Trump 2028” hats that can be yours for only $50 apiece.
The Trump Organization dropped the hats and other Trump 2028 merch last week, amid growing concern that the president will attempt to seek an unconstitutional third term. The merch only fueled more speculation, leading people to ask: Is he trolling or is he serious?
The answer—as is often the case with Trump—seems to be a little bit of both, according to Nick Marx, co-author of That’s Not Funny: How the Right Makes Comedy Work for Them.
“Joking, for him, serves the purpose of allowing him to test the boundaries of acceptability,” said Marx, who is also an associate professor of film and media studies at Colorado State University.
Trump’s apparent lack of respect for political and social niceties has long been a part of his appeal. His brash, offensive, and unfiltered sense of humor has attracted edgelords and manosphere-types since his first campaign. In the following years, he would double down on the outrageous stunts because it keeps him relevant and his supporters happy.
“He understands from the first term that, ‘There are going to be no consequences if I say this, so I’m going to keep doing it and keep pressing the buttons that both piss off liberals and attract my right wing base, fortifying their support behind me,’” Marx said.
The new hat is just Trump’s latest way of pushing these buttons, which is “fundamental to the trolling persona” he has cultivated, according to Marx.
But it also serves another purpose: Planting the seed for a third term now so that voters are more amenable to it in 2028, said Caleb Warren, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Arizona who specializes in consumer psychology.
“If it doesn’t go well, he can fall back and say it was just a joke, it was just a way to troll the liberals, it was just a way to make money,” said Warren. “He’s using humor and irony as a cover. But I suspect it’s part of a real testing of the waters to see if they’ll be able to run for another term.”
Trump has been elusive about whether or not he would run in 2028, which goes against the 22nd Amendment. A third term would require Congress to change the Constitution, which is highly unlikely. Trump told NBC News in March that he was “not joking” about a possible third term but that it was “far too early to think about it.”
Yet the merch drop suggests that the Trump camp is thinking about it. While press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Axios that “it’s just a hat,” the Trump website explicitly tells buyers to “rewrite the rules” with the hat—suggesting the president’s willingness to flout the Constitution.
Trump is no stranger to capitalizing on his own controversies. He has sold sneakers with photos of his assassination attempt, mugs with his mugshot on them, and shirts trolling Taylor Swift for endorsing Kamala Harris during last year’s presidential election.