Mr. President, please take off your hat

Trump is wearing branded merch during the country’s most solemn moments.

[Photo: Getty Images]

The remains of six U.S. service members killed in Kuwait following the U.S. strike on Iran were returned home Sunday during a dignified transfer at the Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. President Donald Trump wore a branded hat for the occasion.

Dignified transfers are solemn movements for military members who lost their lives overseas. They involve flag-draped caskets for the fallen and a trained carry team of seven people who execute precise movements to bring the casket off an aircraft at Dover, home of the Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations and America’s sole port mortuary.

For the nation’s commander-in-chief, it’s usually a sartorial moment for showing respect. On Sunday at Dover, though, Trump dressed the same way he does for a campaign rally, wearing a blue suit, a red tie, and a hat you can buy for $55 on his website. The white baseball hat had “USA” embroidered in gold across the front and “45-47” on the side. The reaction was swift and negative. “I know what Republicans would have said if Obama had done this,” former Republican National Committee communications director Doug Heye wrote on X. “Shameful.”

On Fox News, they didn’t even show the image, instead using footage of a previous dignified transfer where Trump was hatless. The network later apologized and claimed it was an accident.

It’s not as if Trump doesn’t know what to wear. He’s dressed appropriately for the occasion before, at a dignified transfer in December for two Iowa National Guardsmen and a U.S. civilian interpreter killed in Syria. On Sunday, his wife and most of his traveling party managed to dress without distraction.

First lady Melania Trump wore a long black coat and black gloves, Vice President JD Vance wore a dark suit and tie, and others in the administration also dressed conservatively, while military leaders wore full dress uniform. Only Trump and his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, who wore a white overcoat and big, round sunglasses, looked like they were dressed for a different occasion.

Trump wore his white “USA” hat last month when he announced the Iran war in a video statement. Since then, it has become a symbol for a war that is unpopular with the majority of Americans. Still, the hat has proven popular with his base. A note on his shop reads: “Due to high demand, this hat may take an additional 7-10 days to process and then ship.”

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Hunter Schwarz is a Fast Company contributor who covers the intersection of design and advertising, branding, business, civics, fashion, fonts, packaging, politics, sports, and technology.. Hunter is the author of Yello, a newsletter about political persuasion More

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