Donald Trump has been trying his level best to turn his campaign-now-presidency into a profit center for his own businesses, whether it be from doubling rates at his Florida golf club, providing his own Trump-branded water at Republican events or, sigh, leasing out space in his own tower to the Secret Service, thus making a profit off of his own protection.
Out in the rest of the world, though, his belligerent incompetence is having a decidedly more negative effect on his brand.
[N]ew market survey data from Simmons Research suggest the Trump presidency may be having a negative effect on his name’s potential influence among consumers. [...]
Nearly 50% of Americans told Simmons they would be less likely to use a product or service endorsed by Mr. Trump.
Which would seem to be a reasonable reaction. Nothing Trump has done has oozed of competence; consumers are likely wondering just what those TRUMP letters on the top of each hotel really signify. Is it the hotel for bigots? If there is a problem, will the managers pipe up with Trumpian streams of it's-some-other-guy's-fault? As Trump meanders around in the depths of Nixonian approval ratings, there's probably damn few of his detractors itching to personally put money in the twit's pocket.
Ah, but why aren't the people who think Donald Trump is the Bestest Leader Ever canceling out the consumers who want nothing to do with him? For starters, there aren't many of those people (see: approval ratings.) For seconders:
“We know Trump is a very polarizing figure, but these data suggest that the people who don’t like Trump feel much more strongly about it than the people who do like him,” says Steven Millman, chief scientist at Simmons.
That, too, seems understandable. Even if you're a fan of the orange-faced grifter, you've got to be having at least a few second thoughts after the ineptitude displayed in the last few months. You'd have to be a special kind of Trump fan to proclaim that this is what you voted for.