What we know about rumors Trump admin ordered 'loyalists' to wear golden lapel pins of president's face
In early April 2025, claims (archived) circulated that U.S. President Donald Trump had ordered his cabinet, Republican congresspeople and other supporters to wear golden lapel pins depicting the president's face.
One Facebook user wrote:
FCC Chair Brendan Carr sports a gold Trump-head lapel pin. Members of Trump's cabinet, along with Congresspeople and Senators, are being instructed to wear a tribute to their inglorious, convicted-felon leader. Just another day in Emperor Trump's hellscape
The claim also circulated on X (archived), Reddit (archived), Threads (archived) and Bluesky (archived).
However, it was unclear at the time of this writing whether Trump or his administration had ordered anyone to wear golden Trump lapel pins.
A White House official said via email: "Obviously, we did not order officials to wear this pin. If they choose to wear one, it is to show support for the greatest President in history." Brendan Carr, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair seen in photos wearing the golden Trump lapel pin, had not responded to requests for comment about why he wore the pin at the time of this writing.
The claim originated from a Substack post by the Canadian sports writer Dean Blundell that in turn relied on pictures (archived) posted (archived) by the American political commentator Benny Johnson showing Carr appearing to wear a golden Trump lapel pin on April 3. Photos (archived) from Carr's X profile (archived) on April 10, 2025, however, showed him without the pin, indicating he was not wearing it consistently, provided the original image was authentic. Photos taken on the same date of high-ranking officials in Trump's cabinet also showed them without pins.
We reached out Blundell how he knew about the order and for proof that other Republican figures had worn the pin, as Blundell claimed. We reached out to Johnson and Carr to ask about the authenticity of the pictures showing the pin, among other questions. We await replies on the above requests.
The first mention of the golden Trump lapel pins appeared to be from two X posts on April 3, 2025, by Benny Johnson, a self-described conservative political commentator.
The first post showed Johnson and Carr, with Carr wearing the golden Trump pin on his left lapel.
Johnson captioned the post: "With the unstoppable FCC Director Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) This man fights for Free Speech in his very bones. What a legend."
The second post, later reposted by Carr, showed a closer look at the pin on Carr's lapel.
Johnson captioned the post: "Do you even understand the level of fit that @BrendanCarrFCC has? Please check 🔥👊🏼"
According to the online AI detectors Sightengine and Hive Moderation, there was a 0-1% chance of Johnson's photo of Carr from the second post being AI- generated, or fake.
The images from Carr's second post were reposted across X, including one post (archived) on April 5, 2025, that was viewed more than 300,000 times at the time of this writing.
On April 9, 2025, Blundellwrote a post on his Substack blog, titled: "Trump Is Now Mandating His Cabinet/Loyalist Wear "Trump Golden Bust" Pins." This post made the headline claim — that "loyalist" Republicans were ordered to wear the golden Trump lapel pin — and also claimed that other representatives and senators were wearing the accessory.
We did not find images from reputable sources online that showed other Republican lawmakers wearing the golden Trump lapel pin. Searches on popular search engines mostly showed reporting referencing Blundell's Substack post.
Photographs showing Carr and other high-profile Republicans in early-to-mid April further cast doubt on Blundell's claims that "loyalists" were ordered to wear the golden Trump pins.
Carr appeared to wear the Trump pin in a video posted (archived) on his X profile on April 4, 2025. However, on April 10, he instead donned a U.S. flag pin for meetings, seen in posts on his X profile. Had Trump or other officials ordered the wearing of the pin, Carr would have likely worn it consistently, or in addition to the U.S. flag pin.
Additionally, it did not seem that Trump's alleged order for officials to wear the pins had reached the president's closest advisers. Photos from Getty, a reputable picture agency, show high-ranking Trump administration officials, including RFK Jr., Doug Burgum, Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth and Howard Lutnick wearing either different pins or no pins at all during a cabinet meeting with the president on April 10, 2025. An official order to wear the golden Trump lapel pins would likely have included these individuals.
Meanwhile, social media users pointed out that online retailer Amazon sold a very similar-looking pin for around $7.
Amazon.Com: President Donald Trump Pin, Gold Plated Lapel Pins, 1.2" x 1.2", 1 Pack : Clothing, Shoes & Jewelry. https://www.amazon.com/President-Donald-Trump-Plated-Lapel/dp/B086KT8L86. Accessed 11 Apr. 2025.
@bennyjohnson. "Do You Even Understand the Level of Fit That @BrendanCarrFCC Has? ." X, 3 Apr. 2025, https://x.com/bennyjohnson/status/1907845931141087667.
---. "With the Unstoppable FCC Director Brendan Carr." X, 3 Apr. 2025, https://x.com/bennyjohnson/status/1907830351038226583.
Blundell, Dean. "Trump Is Now Mandating His Cabinet/Loyalist Wear 'Trump Golden Bust' Pins." Dean Blundell, 9 Apr. 2025, https://deanblundell.substack.com/p/trump-is-now-mandating-his-cabinetloyalist.
@BrendanCarrFCC. "Always Great to Visit with Chief Johnson with the Western Fire Chiefs Association." X, 10 Apr. 2025, https://x.com/BrendanCarrFCC/status/1910386238005137824.
---. "Appreciated the Chance to Visit with Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bulls Owner Jerry Reinsdorf Today." X, 10 Apr. 2025, https://x.com/BrendanCarrFCC/status/1910412078281818406.
---. "DOJ 🤝 FTC 🤝 FCC ." X, 4 Apr. 2025, https://x.com/BrendanCarrFCC/status/1907939965251764294.
Trump Gold Lapel Pin - Google Search. https://www.google.com/search?q=trump+gold+lapel+pin&sca_esv=551b6e6a4982d666&biw=1920&bih=849&tbm=nws&ei=qC_5Z6nUHcSqhbIPq6WooAQ&ved=0ahUKEwipyNK7oNCMAxVEVUEAHasSCkQQ4dUDCA4&uact=5&oq=trump+gold+lapel+pin&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LW5ld3MiFHRydW1wIGdvbGQgbGFwZWwgcGluSI4HUJsDWMsFcAB4AJABAJgBUaABiwKqAQE0uAEDyAEA-AEBmAIAoAIAmAMAiAYBkgcAoAemArIHALgHAA&sclient=gws-wiz-news. Accessed 11 Apr. 2025.
Trump Gold Lapel Pin - Yahoo Search Results. https://uk.news.search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=Awrih_CvL_lnhE0QULRNBQx.?p=trump+gold+lapel+pin&fr=yfp-t&fr2=p%3As%2Cv%3Ai%2Cm%3Apivot. Accessed 11 Apr. 2025.
Trump Gold Lapel Pin at DuckDuckGo. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=trump+gold+lapel+pin&t=h_&iar=news&ia=news. Accessed 11 Apr. 2025.
Trump Gold Lapel Pin Senator Congressman - Google Search. https://www.google.com/search?q=trump+gold+lapel+pin+senator+congressman&sca_esv=551b6e6a4982d666&udm=2&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiHitLYoNCMAxU1X0EAHYDwNrEQ0pQJegQIBxAF&biw=1920&bih=849&dpr=2. Accessed 11 Apr. 2025.
Trump Gold Lapel Pin Senator Congressman - Yahoo Image Search Results. https://uk.images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AwriiZ3uL_lnX58IbD1QBQx.;_ylu=Y29sbwNiZjEEcG9zAzEEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3BpdnM-?p=trump+gold+lapel+pin+senator+congressman&fr2=piv-web&fr=yfp-t. Accessed 11 Apr. 2025.
Trump Gold Lapel Pin Senator Congressman at DuckDuckGo. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=trump+gold+lapel+pin+senator+congressman&t=h_&ia=images&iax=images. Accessed 11 Apr. 2025.
"U.S. President Donald Trump Delivers Remarks during a Cabinet Meeting..." Getty Images, 10 Apr. 2025, https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-donald-trump-delivers-remarks-during-a-cabinet-news-photo/2209625549.
"U.S. President Donald Trump Holds a Cabinet Meeting at the White..." Getty Images, 10 Apr. 2025, https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-donald-trump-holds-a-cabinet-meeting-at-the-white-news-photo/2209616393.
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