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An American sign-making company prompted legal questions about using the presidential seal for commercial gain when it acknowledged in March 2018 that it was manufacturing golf tee markers bearing the official seal for use at Trump-owned properties. ProPublica first reported the story in early March for their Trump, Inc. podcast in which reporters investigate Trump's various business ties and deals. A photograph of the markers appeared on Eagle Sign & Design's Facebook page in late February: An Instagram photo (since deleted) shared on 4 March showed one of the markers in place at Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida, a short drive from Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort: And an image making the rounds on Twitter after ProPublica's article was published allegedly shows an example of merchandise sold in the Trump Tower gift shop sporting a reproduction of the presidential seal: These tees and tchotchkes came under scrutiny because a federal statute prohibits certain uses of the presidential seal: ProPublica cited legal experts who suggested that the Trump Organization's commercial appropriation of the seal for marketing or branding purposes falls outside what would be considered acceptable use under the law: In the wake of the ProPublica story, a spokesperson for the Trump Organization told Associated Press that the tees were a gift from golf club members: But reporters from ProPublica and WNYC said they had examined the order form, which listed the purchaser as Trump International. Reportedly, Eagle Sign & Design has done other work for Trump International in the past. Despite the Trump Organization's claim that the replicas were temporary and had been removed, the nonprofit watchdog group Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington (CREW) issued a statement saying they had nevertheless violated the law: Previous presidents, including Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan, had items such as golf balls and sets of China made that featured the presidential seal, but they were for personal use or to give out as gifts, not commercial marketing. Still, legal experts weren't unanimous in the opinion that the Trump Organization's use of the seal was against the law. Yale law professor Stephen L. Carter wrote that although the commercial appropriation of the symbol can be criticized as tacky, it doesn't rise to the level of a crime: The federal statute is constitutional only so long as we read it to ban uses of the seal that are either deceptive or misleading, and nothing else, Carter observed, noting that any number of items bearing the seal can be purchased (and legally so) on Amazon.com. What the Trump Organization is doing, or what Amazon is doing, or what a publisher touting a book is doing, involves uses that are neither deceptive nor misleading. The extent to which expert opinions differ on this is probably best reflected in the fact that Trump International announced the removal of the markers within days of their legality being questioned.
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