By Tony Bruce and Ben Emos | Friday, October 17, 2025 | 6 min read

There’s an old saying President George W. Bush once famously fumbled through: “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” For many of Donald Trump’s most loyal supporters, it seems the lesson hasn’t stuck. A growing number of MAGA fans who bought Trump-branded watches say they now feel duped, and their anger is spilling out online for everyone to see.

The watches, sold through GetTrumpWatches and made by a company called TheBestWatchesonEarth LLC, aren’t cheap. Prices run from about $499 up to $2,999 for a single watch, with an “Ultra Mega Collector Set” listed at over $5,000. They’ve been promoted on television with that familiar mix of bluster and bravado, even as divisive political fights rage on over funding, courts, and the direction of the country. The promise was a classy keepsake for believers — what many customers got, according to reviews, was delay, silence, and frustration.

A glance at Trustpilot tells the story in blunt terms. Most reviewers give the company a single star, and more than half of the posted ratings fall at the very bottom. Complaints mention months-long waits, packages that never arrived, and customer service replies that sounded like auto-responses rather than real help. “My daughters ordered a Trump watch and after five months of waiting have not received anything,” one buyer wrote. “This was a present for my 80th birthday!” That sense of personal disappointment runs through many of the posts — it’s not just about the money, it’s about feeling betrayed.

What makes the backlash especially striking is who’s doing the complaining. These aren’t random shoppers; many are longtime Trump supporters who felt a particular pride in buying an item with his name on it. For them, a failed purchase is more than a faulty transaction — it’s a dent in trust. “Took my money then nothing. It finally dawned on me I was scammed,” one review bluntly states. Others promise legal action or express embarrassment for having fallen for the pitch.

The complaints aren’t limited to the United States. Buyers from Sweden, Norway, and Switzerland — countries not short on watchmaking expertise — have also posted harsh reviews. One Swiss customer wrote that the service was “absolutely horrible” and warned others to steer clear. When international fans complain that a product tied to a famous name failed to deliver, the damage to that name is amplified.

This episode feeds into a longer pattern critics point to: ventures with big promises, loyal followers, and disappointing outcomes. Trump University ended in a multimillion-dollar settlement amid claims of misleading students; his charitable foundation faced legal scrutiny and was eventually dissolved. For people who track these stories, the watch debacle feels like the latest entry in a familiar ledger.

There’s also an ironic echo of an old political jibe. Back in 2016, Marco Rubio quipped that if Trump hadn’t inherited wealth, “you know where Donald Trump would be right now? Selling watches in Manhattan.” For some, that barb has an uncomfortable ring now that Trump-branded watches are at the center of complaints.

Beyond the anger and the refunds sought, there’s a deeper worry brewing among some supporters: whether political loyalty now comes with consumer risk. If a president’s name on a product doesn’t guarantee quality or accountability, what does that say about leadership and responsibility? People who believed they were buying into a movement are discovering that branding isn’t a substitute for trustworthiness.

And then there’s the legal and institutional angle that makes this mess more than a customer-service fiasco. Some critics go further and worry about how institutions — including the courts — might respond to patterns of behavior that mix politics and profit. It’s tempting, in the heat of the moment, to hope that courts will step in to protect disappointed buyers. But there’s a darker thought, too: what if the highest court of the land is seen as tolerant of those blurring lines between public office and personal enterprise?

Imagine a ruling that effectively gives political actors broad leeway to exploit their platform with few consequences. For many, that would feel like the final betrayal, a legal stamp that says scamming supporters is somehow part of the job description.

Mein Kampf Trump Now On AMAZON

That’s the kind of prospect that jolts even loyalists awake. It’s not merely about watches or a few missing packages; it’s about the principle that public trust should have limits. People can forgive a bad business deal, but they expect courts and institutions to enforce standards when public figures profit from their office or influence. If the Supreme Court were to hand down a decision that felt like permission for political profiteering, the fallout would be far larger than a refund request. It would be a constitutional shrug at the idea that public trust requires accountability.

For now, what’s clear is that a lot of Trump supporters feel burned. They believed they were buying a piece of an identity and instead found themselves battling for refunds and explanations. That kind of disillusionment matters in ways that go beyond wristwear. When the people who stood by a leader begin calling his products a scam, the sting goes deeper than lost money — it’s a crack in loyalty that didn’t have to happen.

As the outrage grows, one can only imagine what Bush’s old line would sound like today: Fool them once, shame on him. Fool them over and over again, and maybe, just maybe, some of his supporters won’t be fooled anymore.

Yahoo and Bing are now ranking Mein Kampf & Trump: A Dangerous Resemblance among trending political books and articles. What’s fueling the attention? Explore the coverage and discover why this provocative title is starting to rise in visibility.