Melania Trump selling Mother’s Day necklace for $245 as husband’s legal fees mount

Former first lady’s latest offering follows husband’s recent pivot to selling golden high-top trainers, cologne and ‘patriotic’ editions of the Bible

Former US first lady Melania Trump has launched a new customisable Mother’s Day necklace for sale on her personal website as her husband Donald Trump continues to fight numerous legal cases on several fronts and face ever-steeper lawyers’ bills.

Ms Trump’s new necklace, named “Her Love & Gratitude”, retails for a pricey $245, is made from gold vermeil and features a flower pendant with heart-shaped petals and adjustable 16-18 inch chain and can be engraved with names, initials or meaningful dates, according to her website.

“Being a mother is one of the most important roles in life,” she said in a statement on Sunday.

“For this Mother’s Day, I have designed the ‘Her Love & Gratitude’ necklace to express immense gratitude and honour all mothers.”

Buyers will also receive a limited-edition digital collectible with their purchase, according to the site.

Mr Trump, a luxury real estate magnate and reality TV host before he entered politics, is no stranger to retail opportunities himself, having previously lent his name to everything from condos to steaks and dubious diplomas.

More recently, he has sold digital trading cards, golden high-top trainers, cologne and a $60 “God Bless the USA” edition of the Bible, in addition to launching his social media company Trump Media and Technology on the Nasdaq exchange, to bolster his campaign coffers.

His wife has largely appeared reluctant to take part in her husband’s campaign activities so far this election year but did appear at a fundraiser at her Mar-a-Lago home on Saturday night to support the Log Cabin Republicans LGBT+ group.

The launch of her new necklace came just a day after the latest filings from the US Federal Election Commission (FEC) revealed that Mr Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, was forced to rein in spending on his 2024 campaign in March as his legal bills ate up three-quarters of the money raised by one of his key fundraising arms.

The FEC figures reported that the pro-Trump Save America PAC had spent $3.7m on legal expenses last month, equivalent to three dollars in every four raised.

Mr Trump spent another $3.7m on campaigning in March, which compares poorly to the $29.2m spent by President Joe Biden on his re-election bid.

The candidate’s fundraising is expected to be further hampered in April by the requirement that he spend four days a week in court fighting the New York hush money trial that got underway last week, which is preventing him from getting out around the country to host rallies, a fact he has complained bitterly about to reporters gathered outside the courthouse in Lower Manhattan.

Mr Trump’s legal and financial woes continue after he was fined $83.3m in one trial earlier this year after being found liable for the historic sexual assault and defamation of writer E Jean Carroll and then $355m (plus more than $100m in interest) in another after the Trump Organization was found liable for fraud.

The defendant is appealing the verdicts in both of those New York cases while also battling indictments in Florida, Georgia, and Washington, DC.