May 31, 2026
A Rhode Island couple thought they were buying what could become a collector’s item when they spent $640 on a limited-edition Trump-branded watch. But the watch arrived missing one very important letter.
Tim Petit purchased the pink “Inauguration First Lady” watch from GetTrumpWatches.com as a gift for his wife, Melanie. The watch was marketed as a limited-edition item with only 250 reportedly produced, making it an appealing purchase for both collectors and conservatives alike.
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“With the president’s voice hawking the watches, I was curious, so I went on to the website,” Tim told NBC 10 News of the video ads, in which Donald Trump can be heard saying, “It’s Trump time.”
When Melanie opened the gift, however, she immediately noticed a glaring defect. The watch face was supposed to display the name “TRUMP,” but the “T” was missing. Instead, the luxury timepiece read “RUMP.”
“We expected that it would have the integrity of the president of the United States,” Tim told NBC 10 News.
Melanie asked, “How could they process this and go through something without checking their work?”
More recent reviews, however, would suggest that only a seemingly small percentage of the time, does the watch company get it right every time.
“Absolutely the greatest watch I’ve never received!” one customer wrote in a TrustPilot review. “The craftsmanship is so incredible, it must exist in another dimension — one where customer service actually answers emails.”
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Another customer ordered a watch “expecting American pride,” but wrote on TrustPilot that they “got a Made in China beauty instead” five months after threatening to dispute the charge.
Tim asked for an apology for making his wife cry
Melanie was apparently so upset by the missing T that she shed tears over it. Tim reached out to the company to correct the matter “properly and quickly,” adding that “an apology would be nice for making [his] wife cry.”
Frustrated by the lack of communication when the couple initially struggled to get a response, they shared their story with the local television station, NBC’s Channel 10. After the station contacted the watch company on their behalf, things began moving quickly — even though the station reportedly didn’t hear back.
The company apologized and, according to the Petits, promised to send a replacement watch with the correct spelling, as well as an $800 credit for the inconvenience. On the surface, it seemed like a generous offer. After all, the credit exceeded the original $640 purchase price.
But there was a catch.
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The credit wasn’t cash, a refund or a prepaid gift card that could be used elsewhere. It was a store credit that encouraged them to make another purchase from the same company that had sent the defective watch in the first place.
At the time, the only comparable women’s watches available were listed for $899. Even with an $800 credit, the couple would still have to spend an additional $99 out of pocket to obtain a similar watch.
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The tears dried up when the clock finally struck “Trump time”
A recent reviewer argued that customers “deserve everything [they] get if [they] buy this [watch].”
“You’re just giving him more of your hard-earned money to line his pockets on top of the billion the Trumps have already scammed off the American people with his crypto scam, his sneakers and his bibles,” the review reads.
The reviewer is referring to World Liberty Financial, a decentralized finance (DeFi) project backed by the Trump family that operates on the Ethereum blockchain. They’re also referring to a Trump line of sneakers — sold by 45Footwear, which claims that it “is not owned, managed or controlled by Donald J. Trump, The Trump Organization, CIC Ventures LLC. or any of their respective principals or affiliates,” but “uses Donald J. Trump’s name, likeness and image under paid license.”
The review also refers to the “God Bless the USA” Bible (also known as the Trump Bible) — a special edition of the King James Version endorsed by Trump in partnership with country singer, Lee Greenwood.
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Trump has reportedly raked in hundreds of millions in merchandise, through the sales of “Victory Gold Medallion” coins, various MAGA/45-47 hats, his “Victory 47” cologne and even American Eagle guitars.
Most recently, Trump Mobile’s flagship T1 phone — the infamous gold Trump phone that sold to an estimated 590,000 buyers for a collective $59 million — made headlines for not actually existing. So it’s certainly not the first time a Trump supporter purchased a TRUMP product only to be made to feel like a CHUMP.
Get Trump Watches replaced the Petits’ “RUMP” watch with a “TRUMP” watch, and the couple later reported that they were “very happy” that the news channel was “so proactive.” Melanie thanked Channel 10 for “taking interest” in their story that “may seem trivial to some.”
Meanwhile, some say the misspelled “RUMP” version might someday become more valuable as a collector’s oddity than the original watch.
Get Trump Watches did not immediately respond to Moneywise’s request for comment.
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AnnaMarie is a weekend editor for Moneywise.
