Trump Paid Company with Majority Latino Workforce Over $400K to Make His Hats

In the last quarter of 2015, real estate tycoon Donald J. Trump spent over $400,000 on his signature red “Make America Great Again” hats. The manufacturer, Cali-Fame in Carson, Calif., has an overwhelmingly Latino workforce and had to hire 20 additional employees just to meet The Donald’s quotas, a local news affiliate reported.

Numerous media outlets have reported on the large amount Trump spent for his signature hats, but numbers vary. Britain’s The Guardian reported the number at $326,699.85, while Politico put the number at $450,000. PJ Media analyzed the report (filed with the Federal Election Commission) and found the campaign spent $405,038.84 on “Collateral: Hats” and an extra $64,680.75 on a mix of hats, t-shirts, and stickers. If a third of that last number went to hats, the final amount Trump spent on hats between September 2015 and December 2015 is $426,599.09.

Nearly 7% of all the money Trump spent in the 4th quarter ― $452k ― went towards hats. #MakeAmericaGreatAgain https://t.co/uo9RQKJODm

— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) February 1, 2016

Perhaps ironically, the workers at Cali-Fame who produce Trump’s signature red hats are overwhelmingly Latino — a group the candidate has allegedly alienated over the course of his campaign, by taking a hard-line stance against illegal immigration and his distrust of Mexican immigrants. Cali-Fame president Brian Kennedy told the Los Angeles Times that he had to address Trump’s campaign with his 80 percent Latino workforce. “I said to them, ‘We’re not political. We’re here to work.'”

Yolanda Melendrez, a Mexican immigrant who works at the factory, said, “When we first got the order, I said to myself, ‘Just wait until he sees who’s making his hats.’ We’re Latinos, we’re Mexicans, Salvadoreños.”