Is the White Residence Reward Shop Providing a ‘Trump Defeats COVID-19’ Coin?

In October 2020, shortly following U.S. President Donald Trump examined positive for COVID-19, a rumor begun circulating on social media that the White House reward shop was providing a “Trump Defeats COVID-19” commemorative coin:

WhiteHouseGiftShop.com is offering a “Trump Defeats COVID-19” commemorative coin. Nonetheless, this site is not the official reward store of the White Property, the government does not dictate what this business enterprise sells, and the Trump administration does not make a income from its revenue. 

This isn’t the initially time this misleadingly named present shop has brought on confusion online. In April 2020, a comparable rumor went viral just after social media customers claimed that the United States authorities was selling “Coronavirus Undertaking Force” coins at its reward store. Once again, while the coins were true, the website offering them was not officially affiliated with the government.

The website’s operator, Anthony Giannini, explained to us at the time that the White Dwelling Gift Shop “is not affiliated with The White Property, nor is The White Dwelling involved in any of our selections, merchandise, or functions.”

When this internet site does not have any current ties to the government, it does have a extended (and to some degree convoluted) heritage that can reportedly be traced back to the 1950s when U.S. President Truman set up a reward shop in the basement of the White Household:

Even though it traces its history to a 1950 authorization by President Harry Truman, the headquarters of the White Property Gift Shop has been in Lititz since 2012. It’s operated by Lititz (Pennsylvania) resident Anthony Giannini with his wife, Helen.

“It’s extremely bizarre and extremely great,” Giannini says of the shop’s curious background and its recent site.

Following a failed assassination endeavor of Truman in 1950 left a person member of White Property Law enforcement dead, Truman authorized a fund to gain the relatives of the slain officer and the other individuals who were injured in the attack by two Puerto Rican nationalists.

When the White House Police grew to become the Magic formula Assistance, the Truman-licensed fund grew to become the Mystery Services Uniformed Division Reward Fund.

The fund was replenished from the sale of items from a gift shop initially set up in the basement of the White Dwelling but eventually relocated to the close by executive mansion.

Whilst Giannini was granted a trademark to use the name “White Residence Reward Shop,” this business enterprise has not been formally affiliated with the authorities given that at least 2012.