Inside Trump’s money machine, where every crisis is an opportunity

The ex-president is in legal peril — and it has helped his team raise $12m from devoted small donors

ILLUSTRATION BY PETE BAKER
David Charter
The Sunday Times

Yours for only $47, the official T-shirt of Donald Trump’s historic mugshot!

As the former president awaited his court appearance in Manhattan last week, his campaign sent out a defiant fundraising email. “What better way to PROVE that our campaign will NEVER SURRENDER our country to the Left’s tyranny than countless grassroots patriots proudly wearing their very own ‘NOT GUILTY’ T-Shirts,” it bellowed.

In the event, no official mugshot was taken. Nor is Trump 6ft 5in, as shown on the height chart on the campaign T-shirt — two inches taller than usually claimed. But the mocked-up image on the barrage of fundraising emails purportedly helped to raise $12 million as the perpetual showman sought to squeeze the maximum advantage out of becoming the first former