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Trump Making Election Knives Great Again

July 17, 2016

With the Republican National Convention just days away, there’s no better time to be in the business of selling political memorabilia. Most agree that it’s an historic election, and those who mean to capitalize on the occasion are moving quickly to seize the opportunity. Michael King, of King Enterprises in Vancouver, Washington is one such entrepreneur. King recently started selling a golden Limited Edition Trump knife. “Controversy brings sales,” King says.

The knife is available in drop point or tanto varieties and features a liner lock, pocket clip, dual thumbstud / flipper deployment, and a glass breaker. The 4″ blades are made of “surgical steel”. At 10 oz., you might expect the knives to be made of solid gold but King Enterprises acknowledges it’s all steel.

In March, King came across the gold-colored blades, which he decided to modify to become the Trump knife. “Man, that is a Trump knife,” King remembers thinking. Despite Trump’s concerns about trade imbalances with China, the knives are imported from the country by Tiger-USA. “For a Chinese made knife, it’s a really good knife,” he says.

King’s knives are not officially sanctioned by the Trump campaign. King reached out to Trump, seeking permission to put the candidate’s name and slogan on the knife. He never heard back, and moved forward without the candidate’s official blessing, eventually listing it on Amazon. The slogan “Make America Great Again” is trademarked by Trump, but King suspects that the campaign is letting third parties create their own merchandise. From what he’s been told, outside vendors have been tacitly allowed to make and sell unofficial merchandise as a way to create free buzz and goodwill.

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Recently, a customer bought 14 of King’s Trump knives in one order. “That’s where you make real money,” he says. Selling in bulk reduces overhead, which is crucial in a market that is already saturated with Trump-themed knives. You don’t have to look too far to find one: they’re already at gun shows and on late-night television. Frost Media, which produces the late-night shopping show Cutlery Corner is hawking 19 Trump knife models, from a $120 sword to a “Trucking for Trump” knife and model truck set. Panther Trading Company, which owns Tiger-USA, sells a Trump-themed knife whose handle looks like a .50-caliber bullet and a Hillary v. Trump trench knife.

1980 Election Knives

The idea of a political knife isn’t new. They’ve been a part of US elections for decades. 1980 was a particularly big year for memorabilia knives. Both the Reagan/Bush and Carter/Mondale ticket peddled slipjoints. King doesn’t offer a Hillary 2016 knife yet, but he’s working on it. He already has a pink one picked out.

Knife featured in image: Trump 2016 Election Knives

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