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  • - My name is Christl Mahfouz.

  • I'm owner of Ace Specialties.

  • Ace Specialties is a promotional product supplier.

  • - [Narrator] Based in Lafayette, Louisiana,

  • Ace Specialties is the Trump campaign's

  • official merchandise distributor.

  • - This is our facility here in Lafayette.

  • We have of course our official MAGA hat,

  • that sells like hotcakes.

  • The official Trump navy MAGA t-shirt,

  • it's definitely the top seller.

  • Build The Wall

  • which is definitely an American favorite.

  • This is our Trump MAGA mug that we have sold thousands of,

  • because everyone loves waking up remembering that

  • President Trump is their president.

  • So this shirt is the LGBTQ for Trump shirt,

  • beautiful design, and we have sold so many.

  • One of our top items in the pet category

  • is definitely by far the MAGA leash.

  • - [Narrator] Any purchase of

  • official Trump campaign merchandise,

  • counts as a campaign contribution.

  • According to a representative from the Trump campaign,

  • more than 20 million dollars worth of merchandise

  • has been sold since July of 2016.

  • - The way we normally work with clients is,

  • we pick out merchandise, we collaborate with the company,

  • and then we fulfill the orders,

  • and we charge a fulfillment fee.

  • - [Narrator] Before she landed the deal with Trump,

  • Mahfouz specialized in uniform components

  • for the oil and gas industry.

  • - So around 2015,

  • the oil industry in this area was hit very hard.

  • In fact, Lafayette, Louisiana was one of the hardest hit

  • when it came to job losses across the United States.

  • And I just woke up one day and I was like,

  • I don't know how I'm gonna pay my bills.

  • And I literally prayed everyday,

  • asking for direction, asking for you know,

  • give me a sign, please tell me what I'm supposed to do.

  • When President Trump announced he was running,

  • as he was coming down the escalator,

  • I saw a few people wearing t-shirts or holding t-shirts,

  • and I said, that's it.

  • - [Narrator] Mahfouz already had a connection

  • with Donald Trump's son Eric, through his foundation.

  • - My best friend and I,

  • we started a non-profit organization,

  • raising money for St. Jude Hospital in 2007,

  • and we met Eric in 2011.

  • It was sort of like an instant connection.

  • We had the same passion for raising money

  • for kids with cancer.

  • So I reached out to someone in the Trump org,

  • who then connected me with the campaign team.

  • - [Narrator] Mahfouz made her pitch at Trump Tower in 2015.

  • - We went up to New York and we did a great presentation,

  • shark tank style.

  • So when they called him to come down to look at everything,

  • I was confident, I knew the numbers,

  • I knew the presentation, I knew the website.

  • So when he looked at me and he said,

  • how fast can we get this done?

  • And I said you know, give me a week

  • and I will have a full blown fulfillment

  • center merchandise ready to go.

  • And I did it.

  • From the get go, we started to see

  • overwhelming support for President Trump.

  • We were at a point where we were shipping

  • eight to ten thousand packages a day.

  • It was unbelievable.

  • Orders from all across the country.

  • We went from 12 employees to having almost 60,

  • nearly 24 hours a day schedule.

  • We had fast growth very quickly.

  • (cheering)

  • I think my greatest memory was election night,

  • we brought nine suitcases full of MAGA hats.

  • I never had a doubt.

  • (cheering)

  • I knew we were gonna win.

  • There was never, ever a doubt in our mind.

  • The best selling product obviously for the campaign

  • is 100% the MAGA hat, the red MAGA hat

  • has been our number one product.

  • - [Narrator] The MAGA hats are made in Los Angeles.

  • According to the Trump campaign,

  • hundreds of thousands of the hats have been sold.

  • - So when Kanye tweeted out his photo with the MAGA hat,

  • we started to see lots of orders come in,

  • lots of support from new supporters,

  • everyone wanting a MAGA hat.

  • If it's not green underneath, it's not official.

  • When we see articles, when we see reports that you know,

  • the hats are made in China or

  • that we were selling China made hats at the inauguration,

  • it's not true you know.

  • The news media didn't do their research because,

  • if you look at the official hat, it's green,

  • and if it's not green, it's not official.

  • With this experience,

  • Ace has definitely received national attention.

  • We are definitely more confident

  • when approaching bigger opportunities to say you know,

  • did you know that we are the

  • official supplier for the Trump campaign?

  • People think you know,

  • if she could do that and handle all the volume,

  • than we definitely know she's a great partner for us.

- My name is Christl Mahfouz.

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