President Donald Trump might not know how to run things, like a country, or accomplish things, but he is a true savant when it comes to taking credit for things. Couple this sixth sense with the fact that Trump likes putting his name on things and it should come as no surprise that the Trump administration is now requiring federal food aid boxes delivered to struggling Americans be accompanied by a letter from Trump taking credit for the government help. The practice was Ivanka Trump’s idea, according to Fox News, and first got started over the summer with Trump’s note being included in some boxes along with a message about coronavirus safety.
With the election just over a month away and Trump trailing in the polls, the optional part of the Trump branding was dropped, Politico reports. The Agriculture Department has begun requiring all of the USDA’s $4 billion Farmers to Families Food Box Program being distributed by entities with government contracts include the one-page letter. “As President, safeguarding the health and well-being of our citizens is one of my highest priorities,” the letter reads. “As part of our response to coronavirus, I prioritized sending nutritious food from our farmers to families in need throughout America.”
The USDA program redirects food that may have gone to waste, distributing it in more than 100 million boxes for household use since May. The boxes of meat, dairy, and produce, like the stimulus checks that came earlier this year, will now be explicitly branded as a Trump act of magnanimity. There are questions of whether the move violates the Hatch Act, prohibiting the use of federal resources for political activity. The Trump administration gave it a moment’s thought before saying nothing could be further from the truth. “Politics has played zero role in the Farmers to Families food box program,” the Agriculture Department said in a statement. “It is purely about helping farmers and distributors get food to Americans in need during this unprecedented time.” Purely.
