Shopify Takes Trump Organization and Campaign Stores Offline -- Update

By Vipal Monga 

TORONTO -- Online stores run by the Trump Organization and Trump campaign were taken offline on Thursday by Shopify Inc., an e-commerce software provider, in response to Wednesday's riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Visitors to TrumpStore.com and shop.donaldjtrump.com, which sold official Trump branded apparel, "Make America Great Again" hats and other merchandise, were greeted with error messages on Thursday morning.

A Shopify spokeswoman said President Trump violated the company's policy, which prohibits retailers on the platform from promoting or supporting organizations or people that promote violence. "As a result, we have terminated stores affiliated with President Trump," the company said.

The sites were taken down Thursday morning after the company's trust and safety team, which monitors the platform, decided Mr. Trump's comments on Wednesday violated the policy, the spokeswoman said.

Twitter and Facebook locked the president's accounts on their social media sites after Wednesday's events.

TrumpStore.com is the official e-commerce site of the Trump Organization and shop.donaldjtrump.com is the Trump campaign's official store.

Representatives for the Trump Organization, the umbrella company overseeing the president's real estate and branding business, didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

Write to Vipal Monga at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 07, 2021 11:47 ET (16:47 GMT)

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