Travelers wait in line at the check-in counters at an airport. (stellalevi / Getty Images)
By Samuel Short August 9, 2025 at 2:29pm
When Los Angeles shows support, or just tolerance, for anything related to President Donald Trump, you know he’s winning the culture war.
On Friday, an image went viral from LAX, showing that inside one retail store called AMERICA!, patrons can pick up some Trump merch while they’re visiting or departing from one of the bluest cities in the country.
🔥🚨BREAKING: MAGA merchandise was spotted being sold at LAX in California signaling a cultural shift. pic.twitter.com/lBEWQRtJ7Q
— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) August 9, 2025
AMERICA! is not a “Trump store” per se, as the retailer tries to appeal more broadly to anything related to Americana from Trump to what LAX lists as, “local pride, pop culture, and current events.”
According to Quartz, most of AMERICA!’s chains are in Las Vegas with stores in both the United States and Canada.
Quartz, referring to AMERICA!’s website, says the merchandise is “carefully curated.” In other words, someone made a conscious and calculated decision to put Trump gear in the LAX store.
A post on social media platform Facebook showed more Trump merch than the image from social media platform X above.
Has President Trump “won” the culture?
Quarts includes photos showing visitors can buy Trump everything.
Pens, dolls, mints, masks, and other American-themed merchandise is available.
If this were during the president’s first term, the store would have been protested at best, with flyers saying they felt “unsafe” in an airport with merchandise like this.
At worst, you’d see burning, looting, and rioting.
During the second Trump term, it seems like a normal airport souvenir.
Moments like this only signal further the president’s return has created a cultural shift.
His election victory in November coincided with businesses shutting down their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives, no longer feeling obligated to bend the knee to the screeching mob.
Certainly, there’s plenty of screeching to go around still, but the rampant, foaming-at-the-mouth vitriol spewed at the very mention of the name Trump seems to have somewhat subsided.
Looking at the cultural landscape more foundationally, are we only seeing a shift towards a greater tolerance of the president, or is this the signal of a great shift more towards traditional values?
Only time will tell. Further, given the ebbs and flows of culture, moments like this don’t indicate a permanent trajectory upwards for acceptance of Trump and conservatism.
But for now, the president does seem to be winning the culture.
Sam Short is an Instructor of History with Motlow State Community College in Smyrna, Tennessee. He holds a BA in History from Middle Tennessee State University and an MA in History from University College London. The views expressed in his articles are his own and do not reflect the views or opinions of Motlow State Community College.
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