Trump Steaks was a brand of

steak A steak is a cut of meat sliced across muscle fibers, sometimes including a bone. It is normally Grilling, grilled or Pan frying, fried, and can be diced or cooked in sauce. Steaks are most commonly cut from cattle (beefsteak), but can also ...

and other meats that was licensed by

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

. The brand was launched in May 2007 and was exclusively sold through The Sharper Image and

QVC QVC (short for "Quality Value Convenience") is an American free-to-air television network and a flagship shopping channel specializing in televised Shopping channel, home shopping, owned by QVC Group (formerly Qurate Retail Group). Founded in 19 ...

. Due to poor sales and a failure to live up to sales and product expectations, The Sharper Image discontinued the Trump Steaks product line in July 2007, just two months after its launch.

History

Donald Trump registered "Trump Steaks" as a U.S. trademark in August 2006. Trump Steaks were launched on May 8, 2007, exclusively through The Sharper Image's catalog, stores, and website as part of a three-month trial period. Later that month, Trump and some contestants from his

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

series '' The Apprentice'' attended an event at a

Rockefeller Plaza Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The 14 original Art De ...

Sharper Image store to promote the steaks. The meat was supplied by Buckhead Beef, an Atlanta-based company and subsidiary of Sysco. Buckhead Beef also supplied meat to many of Trump's hotel-casino properties. Burgers and sausages were also sold under the Trump Steaks name. The steaks were

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commerc ...

Angus certified and came in four packages with prices ranging from $199 (with two bone-in rib-eyes, two filet mignons and 12 burgers), $349, $499, and $999, with the

tagline In entertainment, a tagline (alternatively spelled tag line) is a short text which serves to clarify a thought for, or is designed with a form of, dramatic effect. Many tagline slogans are reiterated phrases associated with an individual, so ...

of "The World's Greatest Steaks". A Trump Steak Gift Card was also sold at a cost of $1,037. Trump Steaks was featured in a May 2007 ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' episode that mocked the brand. Trump was featured on the cover of the June 2007 ''Sharper Image'' catalogue to promote Trump Steaks. On June 5, 2007, Trump Steaks debuted on the

home shopping television channel, with Trump making an appearance on the network. Trump Steaks (16) 6oz Certified Angus Beef Steakburgers were sold by QVC. Trump Steaks were sold at The Sharper Image for two months before being discontinued. According to Sharper Image CEO Jerry W. Levin, "The net of all that was we literally sold almost no steaks, if we sold $50,000 of steaks grand total, I'd be surprised." Advertisements featuring Trump's photo attracted customers to buy other products at the store. Trump Steaks were discontinued at QVC around the same time as the Sharper Image discontinuation. The Trump Steaks trademark was canceled in December 2014 according to a trademark search through the

United States Patent and Trademark Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency in the United States Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark ...

2007 reception

The ''

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'' conducted a blind taste test and compared Trump Steaks with mail-order porterhouses from Peter Luger Steak House and three New York City establishments. Trump Steaks earned a rating of 7.5 out of 10 (with the high cost of Trump Steaks noted), losing to mail-order porterhouses from Peter Luger with a rating of 9.5, but a higher rating than the

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butcher and the Ottomanelli Brothers. Tad's Steaks, a cheap steak cafeteria, received "This cow should be ashamed". The

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

and ''

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'' wrote positive reviews of the steaks, but also noted the high price. ''

The Palm Beach Post ''The Palm Beach Post'' is an American daily newspaper serving Palm Beach County in South Florida, and parts of the Treasure Coast. On March 18, 2018, in a deal worth US$42.35 million, ''The Palm Beach Post'' and '' The Palm Beach Daily News' ...

'' panelists best rated the Angus-certified and prime-graded bone-in rib-eye against choice-graded bone-in rib-eyes and prime-graded Publix, giving the steaks an "A" and writing "Trump isn't kidding. Our panelists could barely believe how flavorful and tender the bone-in rib-eye was." However, the high price of the steaks was also noted (the others were ). ''

Gourmet Gourmet (, ) is a cultural idea associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterized by their high level of refined and elaborate food preparation techniques and displays of balanced meals that have ...

'' opined, "these steaks are wholly mediocre".

2016 U.S. presidential election

In August 2015, ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine included Trump Steaks on a list of Trump business failures. In December 2015, during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, a

super PAC Independent expenditure-only political action committees, better known as super PACs, are a type of political action committee (PAC) in the United States. Unlike traditional PACs, super PACs are legally allowed to fundraise unlimited amounts of m ...

supporting

John Kasich John Richard Kasich Jr. ( ; born May 13, 1952) is an American politician and author who was the 69th governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001, and a Republican candidate for the pre ...

produced an ad mocking Trump Steaks. On February 10, 2016, the ''

New York Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...

'' included Trump Steaks on a list of Trump business failures. Steaks from West Palm Beach's Bush Brothers Provision Co. were on display at Trump's Florida news conference celebrating his latest primary victories on March 8, 2016, during which Trump claimed them to be "Trump Steaks". Trump-branded wine and water were also displayed, as an example of Trump's success in business. Observers there noted the Trump-named steaks were produced by a butcher in West Palm Beach. In March 2016, '' Vox'' noted that on QVC's website "reviews of Trump steaks were, um, mixed", with more than half of the reviews negative (1 star to 2 stars). In an interview with

Anderson Cooper Anderson Hays Cooper (born June 3, 1967) is an American broadcast journalist and political commentator who anchors the CNN news broadcast show ''Anderson Cooper 360°''. In addition to his duties at CNN, Cooper serves as a correspondent for ''6 ...

the following day, Trump said that he does not process the steaks but instead purchases them from local suppliers. the only place the steaks can still be purchased is at Trump's various properties.

Notes

References

External links

Official website
* – Commercial for The Sharper Image featuring

Trump Steaks
–

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