Donald J. Trump is once again headed to the White House, which means, among many things, that there’s bound to be a new influx of gaudy official and unofficial Trump merchandise. Wasting no time to capitalize on his win, the president-elect recently endorsed a new collection of Trump Guitars — a product line that has now been hit with a cease and desist from popular guitar brand Gibson.
Trump initially endorsed the Trump Guitars on November 20th, posting a picture of himself holding one of the models on his social media platform Truth Social. His likeness is plastered throughout the official Trump Guitars website, the brand is listed as “the only guitar officially endorsed by President Donald J. Trump,” and Trump even signed select guitars (subsequently bringing their price up to as high as $11,500). Additionally, inline pearl letters on the necks of the guitars spell out massages like “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN,” “DONALD J. TRUMP,” and “GOD BLESS THE USA.”
Despite his name and face being all over the marketing, as well as the brand being called ‘Trump Guitars,’ the company is not thought to be owned directly by the president-elect himself, as the website lists the brand as being owned by a parent company called 16 Creative.
Shortly after the unveiling of Trump Guitars, many players and enthusiasts noticed a strong resemblance between the design of the American Eagle Electric Guitar model and Gibson’s recognizable Les Paul, specifically due to the shape of the body. Well, it seems that Gibson noticed the similarities too, as the brand has sent 16 Creative a cease and desist.
“We can confirm a cease and desist has been issued against 16 Creative,” Gibson representatives told Guitar World. “The design infringes upon Gibson’s exclusive trademarks, particularly the iconic Les Paul body shape.”
As of now, it’s unclear whether 16 Creative will indeed cease and desist, or if they’ll push on with Trump Guitars. At time of writing, the Trump Guitars website already lists the first edition of the American Eagle Electric Guitar as sold out. They’re also still accepting pre-orders for the next line, the “Presidential Series,” which similarly uses a Les Paul-style design.
As a brand, Gibson is well-known for being quick to defend its intellectual property. Its dispute with the instrument brand Dean regarding body and headstock designs is still ongoing. As for their actual physical product, Gibson also recently partnered with US Customs and Border Protection to seize over 3,000 counterfeit guitars.