It Sure Looks Like Trump Watches Are Breaking Copyright Law

In late September, Donald Trump gushed on Truth Social about a just-announced business venture: “The Official Trump Watch Collection,” which, he added, would make a “great Christmas Gift.”
The pair of watches, initially named “Fight Fight Fight” and “Victory Tourbillon,” retail from between (the recently inflated) $799 and $100,000, and the timepieces were said to feature “premium, Swiss-Made materials” and include “intricate details.” However, as watch connoisseurs began to review the Trump Watches marketing materials, they were less than kind about the craftsmanship. WIRED’s watch expert called them the most tragic celebrity watches yet.
But while the former president was busy hawking the timekeepers, he wouldn’t actually benefit from the sales, having negotiated a name, image, and likeness deal with a little known LLC from Wyoming. How else to explain the defiant fist-raised photo from his post-assassination-attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania—which, according to the Trump Watches marketing materials, will be etched on the back of Fight watch?
According to the Associated Press, though, TheBestWatchesonEarth LLC advertised a product it can’t deliver, as that image is owned by the 178-year-old news agency. This week, the AP told WIRED it is pursuing a cease and desist against the LLC, which is registered in Sheridan, Wyoming. (The company did not reply to a request for comment about the cease and desist letter.)
Evan Vucci, the AP’s Pulitzer Prize–winning chief photographer, took that photograph, and while he told WIRED he does not own the rights to that image, the AP confirmed earlier this month in an email to WIRED that it is filing the written notice. “AP is proud of Evan Vucci’s photo and recognizes its impact,” wrote AP spokesperson Nicole Meir. “We reserve our rights to this powerful image, as we do with all AP journalism, and continue to license it for editorial use only.”
Typically it is the celebrity who reaches out to demand their likeness be removed from a product. In 2021, the New York Times documented the litany of products, from electric razors to ponchos and even face paint, with images of B. J. Novak advertising the goods—but the actor said on social media that he was “too amused” to take any action.
Details about TheBestWatchesonEarth are scant. The company was registered in late July, roughly three months before it began to advertise the watches, and it is unclear who actually owns or is associated with the LLC.
Fortunately for the Trump watch company, the other watches in the catalog do not feature the iconic post-assassination-attempt image on the rear. Like the just announced “First Lady” piece, an exclusive watch (100 were offered for sale, limit of three per purchase) that is also now elusive—it quickly sold out. With the tagline “Buy one to wear daily … or give one to all the women in your life,” it is unlikely Melania was one of the hundred who bought one—only Trump’s signature graces the dial, and the former First Lady’s name is nowhere to be found on the marketing copy.
There are also the 18-karat, diamond-encrusted, $100,000 flagship “Victory Tourbillon” pieces, which have clear exhibition casebacks so owners can view the “TX07 Tourbillon” automatic movement. However, finding any record of such a movement online is difficult.
Watch commentator Nico Leonard van der Horst said in an Instagram post: “The manufacturer of this movement is Olivier Mory, who ironically is known for making very affordable Tourbillons half made in China, half made in Switzerland. If you were to buy this movement and put it in your own watch, you would be able to buy it for under $3.5k.”
TheBestWatchesonEarth does have a connection to other Trump-branded products: Earlier this year, a line of Trump sneakers were introduced, and the companies behind both the sneakers and watches were registered by Andrew Pierce of Cloud Peak Law (which also is linked to another law group, Wyoming LLC Attorney).
That obfuscation is purposeful: Pierce explained on a podcast earlier this year that he specializes in this sort of anonymity, saying, “With so much information being on the internet, how can you anonymously own a website? How can you have a company that isn’t tied back to your home address? Those are things where we can help you cover your tracks a little bit and have some privacy at the end of the day.”