Trump's challenge pieces create both controversy and seizure of money

The Trump administration has created a special challenge piece with a representation of the famed Florida president's property, Mar-a-Lago.

The challenge piece, designed by the White House Communications Agency, is one of many pieces created by the military unit since Trump 's arrival. One presents the similarities of Pope Francis and the President while another celebrates the Trump summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the New York Times reported. A play "Make America Great Again" was funded by the Republican National Committee, the newspaper adds.

Many other proposals have never come to production, including one with Trump Tower in Manhattan and one of the president's golf courses in Bedminster, N.J.

More about this …

Challenge coins are often created to commemorate presidential trips or important events, and most are given to military members. President Trump first took a liking to the challenge pieces during the presidential campaign, and aides quickly began to keep a constant supply to give dignitaries and military and security forces the chance to see them. ;order.

Some critics have questioned the minting of coins that depict Trump's private properties, since federal laws prohibit the use of public funds to promote private institutions.

The Mar-a-Lago coins, for example, look like a "metallic tourism pamphlet," said Norman L. Eisen, a former White House ethics lawyer and Barack Obama president. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics. New York Times.

White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters countered by saying that the ethics rules do not apply to Mar-a-Lago coins financed by private employees of the unit. military and that no public funds were used in their production.

Despite these claims, the White House prosecutor's office continues to warn staff members to be wary of where they are exposing their coins.

Regarding the play "Make America Great Again" – thicker, wider and more ornate than that of previous presidents, it presents the slogan of the now famous Trump campaign instead of the traditional presidential seal with the national motto E pluribus unum. The attorney's office told the recipients not to show the room, or anything with the slogan of the campaign on it, inside a government building.

Probably the most controversial of all the coins is the one made for Trump's summit with Kim, who was lambasted by Trump's political opponents for presenting the resemblance of the strong North Korean man.

"He is a brutal dictator and something like the House of Peace would be much more appropriate," said Senator Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Still, a Pennsylvania-based private company called The White House Gift Shop would have seen a huge demand for the piece, and was selling a version of it for $ 49 online.