Former President Donald Trump hawks $59.99 Bibles with the same words he uses to win the votes of evangelical Christians. He sells swatches of the suit he wore in a mug shot while also raising money for his campaign by calling himself a “political prisoner.” He describes Truth Social, his refuge for those banned on other social media sites — and his best chance to substantially increase his wealth — as a bulwark against liberal companies out to silence Christians and conservatives.

As he seeks to reclaim the presidency, Trump has reprised the pitchman role from his reality TV days, with a crucial difference: He has intertwined the marketing of his private business affairs with the messaging of his campaign, leveraging his political stature for profit.

All of it could be described as Martyr Inc., a machinery that makes Trump money and promotes his reelection by characterizing him as unjustly persecuted and selflessly saving his supporters from a similar fate.

His most loyal followers have gone along for the ride, forming a niche marketplace for products bearing the Trump name and vowing to help prop up the stock price for the company that owns Truth Social. Even after recent declines, Trump’s shares are worth more than $3 billion, though he cannot yet sell. With Trump’s tacit encouragement, his supporters have characterized buying Trump products as a measure of patriotism. That was the former president’s message in his Truth Social pitch for the customized Bible on the cusp of the Independence Day holiday: “Every Patriot should have one.”

That conflation of profit and the presidency was highlighted as stock in the social media company tumbled after Trump’s recent conviction on 34 felony counts in New York City.

Members of an investor chat group on the site rallied behind both the stock price and Trump’s reelection. They describe short sellers who bet against the stock as part of the same evil apparatus seeking to prosecute and defeat him. (He also faces indictments in criminal cases in Florida, Georgia and Washington, D.C., though none is likely to come to trial before the November election.)

A user with the screen name UltraMAGAFed wrote that “we are at war” and urged other members to buy and hold more stock. “November 5 is America’s Alamo. We are ALL IN.”

The stakes of success in this new market and of winning in November are high for the financial future of the Trump family.

Trump faces threats from civil judgments and unresolved tax audits totaling hundreds of millions dollars more than he has had on hand in recent years. His income, driven during the last two decades by “The Apprentice” and related licensing deals, collapsed with the show’s ratings before he entered politics. In the lurch, he has sold off his interests in a golf course, a hotel and a mansion. New opportunities for Trump-branded businesses have come mostly from projects backed by Saudi Arabia, which would benefit from a friend in the White House. That raises questions about the value of the Trump name should he not return to power.

In response to questions for this article, a Trump campaign spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt, said: “President Trump’s campaign is entirely separate from his private business ventures, and he was the first president to leave office less wealthy than when he entered.”

There was a time, during the heyday of “The Apprentice,” when suitors bearing large checks streamed into Trump Tower hoping that the television star on the 25th floor would let them license his name and image as an icon of success. Makers of clothing, cologne, steak, booze and buildings put the Trump name on products and advertisements across the country. Trump became the public face of multilevel marketing schemes for vitamins and obsolete video phones. He created Trump University, which purported to teach the secrets of his real estate success but closed amid investigations and lawsuits alleging that it was a fraudulent scheme.

The latest Trump-branded products aim at a specialized — and intensely devoted — segment of the economy.

Trump met a mix of boos and cheers in February when he took the stage at a sneaker enthusiast convention in Philadelphia to introduce limited-edition Trump “Never Surrender” high-tops. He held up a pair, showing the embossed “T” and calling them “the real deal.” For $399, the shoes looked as if they could have been spray-painted gold, laces and all, save a hint of flag symbolism at the ankle.

Trump then pivoted to asking for votes.

At least some portion of the sales price went to Trump, though he declined to say how much (knockoffs, sans “T,” are now available for $99 elsewhere). He has also declined to say who owns the company — 45footwear LLC — that sells the shoes. The company’s only listed address is the small office in Montana of the lawyer who registered the entity.

In March, Trump mixed his appeal to Christian evangelical voters with a pitch for a customized Bible. Created with country singer Lee Greenwood, the Bible includes copies of foundational American documents and the lyrics to Greenwood’s best-known song, “God Bless the USA.”

In a promotional video, Trump offered a twist on the primary slogan of his three campaigns — “We must make America pray again” — and struck a note that resonated with many evangelicals. He described “Judeo-Christian values” as “under attack, perhaps as never before,” and added: “We must defend God in the public square and not allow the media or the left-wing groups to silence, censor or discriminate against us.”

The web page offering the Bible said no portion of the $59.99 sale price would go to any political campaign. Trump’s personal company, however, would receive a licensing fee.

As president, Trump monetized the office in smaller ways, though most of it was hidden from public view.

A 2020 New York Times investigation based on his tax returns found that he had pocketed millions of dollars from Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Florida, after increasing initiation fees when he became a candidate. Mar-a-Lago and other Trump properties also saw substantial business from groups with an interest in currying the president’s favor; since then, Mar-a-Lago has increasingly become a venue of choice for events and speakers on the MAGA right.

Trump has sold hats and other goods bearing his name or “Make America Great Again,” to raise money both for his campaign and for personal profit.