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The Reagan Foundation Demanded the ‘Trump Train’ Remove an Image of Ronald Reagan in a MAGA hat

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The Reagan Foundation has a bone to pick with the owner of the so-called “Trump Train,” which is not really a train but a bus. A campaign-style bus emblazoned with Trump images that travels around the country to drum up support for the ex-president, his family, and his allies. Earlier this month, it ran afoul of Buckingham Palace and had to remove a doctored image of Queen Elizabeth wearing a MAGA hat and a QAnon brooch, Salon reports.

The Reagan Foundation handles the legacy of former President Ronald Reagan wants the bus’s owner, William “Buddy” Hall to remove the edited image which shows Reagan wearing a red MAGA hat.

In a sternly-worded letter sent to Hall and obtained by Salon, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute demanded the image be removed immediately.

“Remove Ronald Reagan’s image from the ‘Trump Train’ by no later than Friday, May 21, 2021, and permanently cease all other use of Ronald Reagan’s name and likeness for your tour bus services,” the letter, issued May 13, stated.

The letter which was sent to Hall by attorney Linda Merritt, even CC’d the Trump Organization. I’m guessing the organization isn’t involved with the bus tour, but who knows?

Either way, the letter concluded with “If you agree to and comply with these requests, the Reagan Foundation will consider this matter resolved.”

In an interview with Salon Monday, Hall seemed despondent.

“I got the images off Google two years ago,” he said. “so I felt since they were on [the] public domain, it was fine to use.” He said he’s worried that removing Reagan’s image will impact the efforts of the Trump movement because the bus will no longer make people smile “by the millions.”

“We never want to upset anyone, we want it to be a fun bus to make people smile as it does by the millions,” he said.

I’m willing to bet it also nauseates people by the millions.

The wannabe train is currently being re-wrapped with new images of MAGA-supporting personalities in Palm Beach, Florida. Hall said he hopes this time around the images won’t spur any legal demands. The bus’s new exterior will feature a wall of appreciation, he told Salon, adding it will feature images of Sean Hannity, My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell, Sen. Ted Cruz, and others.

Well, it will give folks something to laugh at, anyway.

On Monday, Hall said the Reagan image had been removed but said he was unable to provide evidence because he wasn’t currently in Florida.

I’ve added an image of the bus below, so that you, dear readers, can have a good laugh.

As you might expect, Twitter users had some thoughts.

Megan Hamilton
meet the author

Megan has lived in California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida and she currently lives in Central America. Living in these places has informed her writing on politics, science, and history. She is currently owned by 15 cats and 3 dogs and regularly owns Trump supporters when she has the opportunity. She can be found on Twitter at https://twitter.com/GaiaLibra and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/politicalsaurus

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