In an interview with The Washington Post on Wednesday, President-elect Donald Trump took a break to trademark a new campaign slogan for his re-eleciton in 2020.
“Are you ready?” Trump said in the interview. “‘Keep America Great,’ exclamation point.”
A few seconds later, the president-elect shouted, “Get me my lawyer!”
“Will you trademark and register, if you would, if you like it — I think I like it, right? Do this: ‘Keep America Great,’ with an exclamation point. With and without an exclamation. ‘Keep America Great,'” Trump dictated. “Got it,” the lawyer replied.
The Post‘s Karen Tumulty also told the story of how the president-elect discovered his powerful 2016 slogan, “Make America Great Again.”
On November 7, 2012, the day after Republican nominee Mitt Romney lost the presidency, Trump sensed opportunity. He wanted to brand the perfect 2016 slogan.
One after another, phrases popped into his head. “We Will Make America Great.” That one did not have the right ring. Then, “Make America Great.” But that sounded like a slight to the country.
And then, it hit him: “Make America Great Again.”
“I said, ‘That is so good.’ I wrote it down,” the president-elect recalled in his interview with the Post. “I went to my lawyers. I have a lot of lawyers in-house. We have many lawyers. I have got guys that handle this stuff. I said, ‘See if you can have this registered and trademarked.'”
Five days later, the businessman signed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, paying $325 for a registration fee. For that amount, he received exclusive rights to use “Make America Great Again” for “political action committee services, namely, promoting public awareness of political issues and fundraising in the field of politics.”
And the rest, they say, is history. Will “Keep America Great” have the same ring? If Trump delivers on his promises for his first term, the country’s renewed greatness might just propel him to victory yet again.
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