The Trump Administration Is One Big Reality TV Show Now

The Trump administration is dipping its toe back in reality television.

The Small Business Administration announced Tuesday that the agency’s Million Dollar Pitch Competition would be concluded with a “live finale event” in Washington D.C. on September 18.

Five small manufacturing companies from across the country are set to go head-to-head for cuts of a $1 million prize pool furnished by Clover Network Inc., a point-of-sale and payment-processing platform. Think Shark Tank but way more boring.

The program will be presided over by a panel of Trump sycophants and scam artists, including Nicki Minaj, the rapper-singer who took a hard-right turn when her vaccine skepticism hit the MAGA mainstream; Grant Cardone, a get-rich-quick influencer accused of misleading investors; and Joe Gebbia, the co-founder of Airbnb, who currently leads a group of DOGE goons running federal websites. The event will be hosted by actor Dean Cain, once Superman, now fanboy for the president.

This is the Trump administration’s second foray into reality television, after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy debuted his flop travel show last month. It’s not yet clear where the SBA’s show will “air,” but if Duffy’s project was any indication, it will be quietly dumped on YouTube and immediately forgotten.

Trump Isn’t Even Pretending Not to Rip People Off With His New Coins

Guess how much Donald Trump is charging for $25 worth of coins?

President Donald Trump’s latest grift appears to be selling $1 coins for more than $2 apiece.

Beginning at noon Wednesday, the U.S. Mint is selling $1 commemorative gold coins emblazoned with Trump’s face on its website for the country’s 250th anniversary—for the low, low prices of $61 for 25 coins or 100 coins for $154.50. Interest from Trump supporters appears to be so high that an online waiting room was set up.

Among the minted coins are 250,000 coins pressed on July 4 that carry a “July 4” privy mark, according to a U.S. Mint press release. The coins feature Trump’s official White House portrait, a move that should be illegal under the Presidential $1 Coin Act, which states that no coin shall “bear the image of a living former or current President” until at least two years after their death.

The Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020 also states that living people can’t appear on the back of a coin, but the Trump administration claims that the act allows the president to create memorial coins celebrating America’s 250th anniversary.

The coins aren’t even made of gold but have a........

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