According to a number of social-media posts, a video and assertions by those claiming responsibility, pranksters recently placed KKK hoods, postcards of Vladimir Putin and rubber sheets (for protecting mattresses against urine) in amongst the legitimate merchandise at the Trump Tower gift shop.
Overall, the items offer commentary on Trump's racially incendiary rhetoric and alleged connections to the Russian government according to a report by the New York Daily News.
The rubber sheets, for example, would be an allusion to the controversial dossier which claims that Trump paid Russian prostitutes to urinate on bedding that he believed had been used by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.
The packaging of white Klu Klux Klan-style hoods includes a reference to "fine people," skewering Trump's controversial comments in a press conference after the riots in Charlottesville, Virginia. In his statements at the time, the president suggested that there were "very fine people" who marched alongside the white-supremacist protesters in defense of that city's statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
Russian flags and a remote control "pre-set" to Fox News were also among the items seen on social media and the video below.
Salon contacted representatives at Trump Tower about the alleged prank. They did not offer a comment.
An individual claiming to be one of the pranksters told Gothamist "We thought the tourists coming in to buy some stuff, especially people from other countries, should get the whole story of who the president is, because the items in the Trump store don't accurately reflect the person."
They added, "My partner was in the back putting in some of the items and he said to someone, 'Oh did you see this?' and they didn't even bat an eye."
Not surprisingly, Trump's "alt-right" supporters are condemning the supposed prank on social media, while his critics are lauding it.
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