Is the White Dwelling Present Shop Promoting a ‘Trump Defeats COVID-19’ Coin?

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In October 2020, soon soon after U.S. President Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19, a rumor started circulating on social media that the White Household gift shop was promoting a “Trump Defeats COVID-19” commemorative coin:

WhiteHouseGiftShop.com is marketing a “Trump Defeats COVID-19” commemorative coin. On the other hand, this site is not the formal present store of the White Dwelling, the govt does not dictate what this company sells, and the Trump administration does not make a income from its product sales. 

This isn’t the first time this misleadingly named gift store has triggered confusion on the net. In April 2020, a identical rumor went viral immediately after social media people claimed that the United States governing administration was offering “Coronavirus Endeavor Force” coins at its gift shop. Yet again, while the coins had been actual, the internet site providing them was not formally affiliated with the govt.

The website’s operator, Anthony Giannini, explained to us at the time that the White Dwelling Present Store “is not affiliated with The White House, nor is The White Dwelling included in any of our decisions, goods, or functions.”

Though this web-site does not have any present ties to the government, it does have a very long (and relatively convoluted) record that can reportedly be traced back to the 1950s when U.S. President Truman set up a gift shop in the basement of the White House:

While it traces its history to a 1950 authorization by President Harry Truman, the headquarters of the White Home Present Store has been in Lititz given that 2012. It is operated by Lititz (Pennsylvania) resident Anthony Giannini with his wife, Helen.

“It’s really unusual and pretty awesome,” Giannini suggests of the shop’s curious history and its latest place.

Right after a unsuccessful assassination endeavor of Truman in 1950 still left 1 member of White Residence Law enforcement lifeless, Truman approved a fund to gain the family members of the slain officer and the other individuals who were wounded in the attack by two Puerto Rican nationalists.

When the White Household Police became the Mystery Services, the Truman-licensed fund turned the Mystery Provider Uniformed Division Gain Fund.

The fund was replenished from the sale of things from a present store originally set up in the basement of the White Residence but finally relocated to the close by executive mansion.

When Giannini was granted a trademark to use the name “White Household Present Shop,” this company has not been formally affiliated with the federal government since at minimum 2012.