Trump’s trading cards seem to rely on stock images, clothing offerings | Popgen Tech

Former President Donald Trump’s new trading cards, dubbed collectible “indispensable tokens” ahead of Christmas, appear to be based on widely available photos online, including images from Amazon and Walmart.

Mr Trump says he has sold out of the cards, which are available at $99 apiece, but the release has drawn eye rolls from political allies.

Now, some journalists and Twitter users have noticed that the cards include the former president’s face in the images.

For example, a postcard featuring him as a cowboy features a down jacket from Scully Leather, PC Mag reports.

Images depicting Mr Trump in a tuxedo or western-style jacket also appear to be based on online merchandise, the report said.

Journalist Matthew Sheffield noted that other images, including a fighter pilot card and an astronaut image, appear to be based on photos found in news articles or Shutterstock images.

PC Mag said it reached out to the contrast artist who worked on the cards, Clark Mitchell, for comment, but the artist did not respond. He only commented on the release of the cards on Thursday, tweeting: “It’s a truly unique day.”

Some of Mr. Trump’s allies wonder why the former president bothered to issue the cards. Mr Trump called the release a “major announcement” only to sell the images to those willing to pay.

“I can’t do this anymore,” former Trump adviser and strategist Steve Bannon said on his “War Room” podcast after watching a portion of the trading card video with fellow Trump supporters Sebastian Gorka and Steve Cortez, both former aides to Mr. Trump. “He’s one of the greatest presidents in history, but I have to tell you, whoever it is — whoever the business partner is and somebody on the communications team and somebody at Mar-a-Lago, and I love the people there — but we are fighting. They should be fired today.”