Have any nationwide brands cut ties with Trump-owned businesses or Trump-branded products?
Executive summary
Multiple nationwide retailers and service providers have publicly cut commercial ties with Trump-branded products or Trump-linked businesses at various moments since 2015 — notable examples include Macy’s stopping Donald Trump’s menswear in 2015 and Nordstrom dropping Ivanka Trump’s brand in 2017 [1]. After the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot a fresh wave of firms — from banks to payment processors and golf organizations — severed or suspended relationships with Trump entities, including Stripe and Shopify taking action and the PGA ruling out Trump Bedminster for the foreseeable future [2] [3].
1. Big retail’s early departures: when stores said “no” to Trump labels
Large national retailers moved first and publicly: Macy’s removed Donald Trump’s menswear line in 2015 after political controversy [1], and several department stores including Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus stopped carrying Ivanka Trump’s fashion line amid boycotts and falling sales — Nordstrom said declining sales drove its decision in early 2017 [1] [4] [5]. Coverage at the time framed those choices as both commercial (poor performance) and reputational (consumer-led boycotts such as #GrabYourWallet) pressures [1] [6].
2. Licensing partners and manufacturers also backed away
Beyond retailers, manufacturers and licensing partners that produced Trump-branded ties, cologne and home goods shrank their involvement over time. Reporting shows multiple licensees stopped producing Trump merchandise or allowed agreements to lapse; industry trackers and The Washington Post documented a steep decline in Trump-licensed products compared with the brand’s pre-2016 footprint [7] [8]. Some factory partners overseas likewise reported ending work for Ivanka Trump’s brand as demand fell [9].
3. Financial and services cutoffs after Jan. 6, 2021
The Jan. 6 insurrection prompted a distinct round of breakups: payment platforms such as Shopify and Stripe removed at least some Trump-related storefronts, and banks including Signature Bank and others reportedly closed personal or business accounts linked to Trump [2] [3]. The PGA and other sports organizations also distanced themselves — the PGA said holding its championship at Trump Bedminster would be “detrimental to the P.G.A. of America brand” [3].
4. Why companies gave different explanations — sales vs. politics
Companies offered mixed rationales: some cited commercial reasons (declining sales, assortment refreshes) — Nordstrom explicitly said sales performance motivated its decision [4] — while observers and activist groups framed the moves as responses to political pressure and reputational risk [6] [1]. Reporting across outlets shows both motives coexisted: measurable drops in sales enabled decisions that also reduced brand exposure to controversy [1] [7].
5. Scale and permanence: not a uniform, permanent purge
Available sources show a substantial contraction of Trump’s merchandising and partnership network over several years — “most” licensing deals and product lines faded from retail shelves [7] [8]. But sources also indicate reasons varied (expired contracts, business decisions, boycotts) and do not portray a single coordinated nationwide campaign that permanently eliminated every Trump tie; instead, multiple firms independently cut or declined to renew relationships [7] [1].
6. Activist pressure vs. corporate risk management
The #GrabYourWallet boycott and similar consumer campaigns played an important public role in spotlighting brands and rallying activism, which in turn influenced corporate risk calculations, according to reporting [6] [1]. Companies balanced potential backlash, sales performance and legal/contractual realities when deciding whether to stop carrying Trump-branded items or to sever business relationships [6] [4].
7. Limits of the reporting and unanswered questions
Available sources document many corporate departures but do not provide an exhaustive, up-to-date list of every nationwide brand that has ever cut ties; comprehensive, current inventories are not provided in these reports (not found in current reporting). The sources also do not uniformly disclose contractual details or whether some terminations were voluntary non-renewals versus forced cancellations [7] [8].
Sources cited: Macy’s/Nordstrom/department-store actions and early boycotts [1] [4] [5]; activist campaign and retailer responses [6]; licensing partner and merchandise decline [7] [8]; Chinese factories and Ivanka brand decline [9]; post–Jan. 6 corporate and financial severing including Shopify/Stripe, banks, PGA [2] [3].