PunditFact Rates Claim That Official Trump Campaign Hats Are Made in China “Pants on Fire”

PunditFact, the PolitiFact project that checks claims by pundits and on social media, rated “Pants on Fire” a set of October 2015 social media posts saying Donald Trump’s official “Make America Great Again” campaign hats were made in China. It found that the hats sold by the campaign were made in the USA and that the hats shown with “Made in China” labels were not official merchandise.

What PunditFact found

• Campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks said the image being shared was “not an official campaign product” and that “all product for sale on DonaldJTrump.com is made in the USA.”
• The official hats were made by Cali Fame of Los Angeles, maker of the Cali Headwear brand, based on its Patriot 5 model. Co-owner Brian Kennedy confirmed they were made in the USA.
• Distributor Ace Specialties LLC of Lafayette, Louisiana, also said everything on its side was made in the USA.
• The campaign store sold the hats for $25 to $30. Knockoff versions were also on the market.

Earlier labels

PunditFact noted that Trump-brand shirts and ties sold at Macy’s had carried “Made in China” labels, as David Letterman pointed out in a 2011 interview. That clothing line was separate from the campaign merchandise.

A 2016 Associated Press review also looked at where Trump campaign merchandise was made (our coverage).