WASHINGTON — Thousands of copies of Donald Trump’s Bible ‘God bless the USA’ were printed in a country that the former president has repeatedly accused of stealing American jobs and engaging in unfair trade practices: China.
Global trade data reviewed by The Associated Press shows that a printing company in China’s eastern city of Hangzhou shipped nearly 120,000 Bibles to the United States between early February and late March.
The estimated value of the three separate shipments was $342,000, or less than $3 per Bible, according to databases that use customs data to track exports and imports. The reserve price for the Trump-backed Bible is $59.99, bringing the potential sales proceeds to about $7 million.
Trump Bible’s previously unreported connection to China reveals a deep divide between the former president’s harsh anti-China rhetoric and his rush to earn money while campaigning.
The Trump campaign did not respond to emails and calls seeking comment.
The largest and most recent shipment of 70,000 copies of Trump’s Bible arrived at the Port of Los Angeles by container ship on March 28, two days after Trump announced in a video posted on his Truth Social platform that he was working with country singer Lee Greenwood to market the Bibles.
In the video, Trump mixed religion with his campaign message as he urged viewers to buy the Bible, inspired by Greenwood’s ballad “God Bless the USA.” The Bible contains copies of the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the Pledge of Allegiance.
“This Bible reminds us that the most important thing we must bring back to America, and make America great again, is our religion,” Trump said. Judeo-Christian values, he added, are “under attack perhaps like never before.”
Trump did not say where the “God Bless the USA” Bibles are printed or what they cost; a copy hand-signed by the former president sells for $1,000. Trump also did not reveal how much he earns per sale.
A $59.99 version of the Bible commemorates the July 13 assassination attempt on the former president in Pennsylvania. Trump’s name appears on the cover above the phrase: “The Day God Intervened.” It appears that the wording was stamped on it after the Bible was produced. Trump said Saturday his would-be killer failed “by the hand of the providence and grace of God.”
The Bibles are sold exclusively through a website stating that it is not affiliated with any political campaign nor owned or controlled by Trump.
A photo on the website shows Trump sitting at his desk in the Oval Office, with Greenwood standing next to him. In another photo, the former president smiles broadly while holding a copy of the Bible.
The website states that Trump’s name and image are being used under a paid license from CIC Ventures, a company Trump reportedly owned in his most recent financial disclosure. CIC Ventures earned $300,000 in royalties from Bible sales, according to the disclosure. It is unclear what period this concerns and how much Trump has received in additional payments since the revelation was released in August.
AP did not receive a response to questions sent to an email on the Bible website and to a publicist for Greenwood.
For years, Trump has denounced Beijing as an obstacle to America’s economic success, while as president he imposed heavy tariffs on Chinese imports and threatened even more strict measures if he is re-elected. He blamed China for the COVID-19 outbreak and recently suggested, without evidence, that thousands of Chinese immigrants are flooding the US to build an “army” and attack America.
But Trump also has an eye for his personal finances. Pitching Bibles is one of a staggering number of profitable ventures he has launched or promoted, including diamond-encrusted watches, sneakers, photo albums, cryptocurrency and digital trading cards.
The web of companies has fueled concerns about conflicts of interest. Selling products at prices that exceed their value can be considered a campaign contribution, said Claire Finkelstein, founder of the nonpartisan Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law and professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania.
“You have to assume that everything the individual does is done as a candidate and that all the money that flows through to him benefits him as a candidate,” Finkelstein said. “Suppose Vladimir Putin bought a Trump watch. Is that a campaign finance violation? I would think so.”
Selling Bibles, she added, “sounds to me like an extremely problematic mix of religion and state.”
As president, Trump would be in a position to influence policy and markets in favor of companies in which he and his family have financial interests. While president, his administration exempted Bibles and other religious texts from tariffs imposed on billions of dollars of Chinese goods.
There’s a potentially lucrative opportunity for Trump to sell 55,000 “God Bless the USA” Bibles to Oklahoma, after the state’s top education official ordered public schools to include the Bible in lessons for grades 5 through with 12. Oklahoma plans to spend $3 million on Bibles that initially matched Trump’s edition: a King James Version containing America’s founding documents. The request was: revised on Monday to allow the American historical documents to be bound with the Bible or provided separately.
The Oklahoma Department of Education did not answer questions from AP about whether the Bibles should be printed in the United States and whether department officials have discussed it the proposal with Trump or his representatives.
“There are hundreds of Bible publishers and we expect stiff competition for this proposal,” department spokesman Dan Isett said.
China is one of the largest producers of Bibles in the world, so it is not unusual for the Trump-approved version to be printed there.
The first shipment of Trump Bibles was labeled “God Bless USA,” according to information from the Panjiva and Import Genius databases. The other two were described as ‘biblical’. All books are shipped by New Ade Cultural Mediaa printing company in Hangzhou that describes itself as a ‘manufacturer of custom Bible books’. They were sent to Freedom Park Design, an Alabama company identified by databases as the importer of the Bibles.
Tammy Tang, a representative for New Ade, told AP that all three shipments were “God Bless the USA” Bibles. She said New Ade received the orders via WhatsApp messaging service and confirmed they were from Freedom Park Design. The books were printed on presses near the company’s office in Hangzhou, she said. Tang did not disclose the sales price or other details, citing customer confidentiality.
“They didn’t come to meet us,” Tang said by phone. “We only do the production.”
She declined further comment and referred interview requests to Freedom Park Design.
Freedom Park Design was incorporated in Florida on March 1, according to company registration records. An aspiring country singer named Jared Ashley is the president of the company. He was also a co-founder 16 Creativea digital marketing company that uses the same Gulf Shores address and processes online orders for branded merchandise sold by entertainers and authors.
Ashley hung up on a reporter who called to ask about the Bibles.
Greenwood is a customer of 16 Creative, according to the company’s website. He launched the American flag-adorned Bible in 2021. His song “God Bless the USA” was released 40 years ago and is a staple of Trump rallies. Greenwood has also appeared at the former president’s campaign events.
The King James Version used in the Trump Bible is in the public domain. Greenwood initially planned to use the best-selling New International Version, licensed in North America by HarperCollins Christian Publishing. But the publisher abandoned the arrangement under pressure from religious scholars and authors who denounced the merging of Scripture and government documents as a “toxic mix” that would fuel sentiments of Christian nationalism in evangelical churches.
Christian nationalism is a movement that combines American and Christian values, symbols and identity strives to privilege Christianity in public life. Christian nationalists likely believe that the U.S. Constitution is inspired by God and that the federal government should declare the U.S. a Christian nation.
Other critics called the Trump Bible blasphemous.
“Taking religiously what has long been understood as a global message and slapping the flag of one nation on it is something that theologians for centuries would call heresy,” said Brian Kaylor, a Baptist minister and president of the Christian media company Word.&Way.
Tim Wildsmith, a Baptist minister who reviews Bibles his YouTube channel, said he quickly noticed the signs of a cheaply made book when his “God Bless the USA” Bible arrived, wrapped in plastic in a padded mailer.
It had a leatherette cover and the words were jumbled on the pages, making it difficult to read. He also found sticky pages that tore when pulled apart, and there was no copyright page or information about who printed the Bible, or where.
“I was shocked at how poor the quality of it was,” Wildsmith said. “It tells me it’s more about the love of money than the love of our country.”
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Kang reported from Beijing. Associated Press writer Martha Mendoza in Santa Cruz, California, contributed.
