As Trump set to end presidency, are these final days of his brand too?

About ten years ago, Donald Trump was one of the strongest human brands ever.

The world looked up to him as he was the man with the Midas touch.

The billionaire businessman was not a career politician, but the people of the United States saw the perfect president in him. 

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Trump won the presidency in 2016 but lost reputation, face and brand value. 

In 2015, America's retail giant Macy's cut ties with Trump after his comments on migrants and Mexico. 

Trump's menswear collection was phased out and NBC also cut its ties with the American president. 

It decided to no longer air the Miss USA and the Miss Universe pageants. 

In 2017, Toronto's Trump hotel rebranded itself and in 2018, the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Panama city, dropped his name. 

The property's majority owner said the brand repelled guests. 

India has the most number of Trump Tower structures outside North America in places like Mumbai, Pune, Gurugram and Kolkata. 

Reports suggest that the brand is already suffering in India as there are no takers for the apartments. 

What happened at the US Capitol and the second Trump impeachment added insult to the billionaire president's injury. 

Now, R&A, which runs the British Open, the oldest golf championship, has said that the tournament will not be held in Trump golf resort in Scotland. 

End of Brand Trump?

The Republicans have always campaigned for Trump as an outsider who can solve the crisis in Washington. 

Trump's approach was also to that of a complete outsider and in the beginning, it even was radical. 

He shattered norms and said things that were deemed as unspeakable. 

For America, it was attractive and that is why they voted to bring Trump into power. 

But, lately, they realised that inexperience often breeds confusion and in Trump's case, it brought chaos. 

He gambled on foreign policy, botched travel bans, showed no understanding of the system, interfered with the judiciary, and even attempted a coup. 

So, is this the end of brand Trump? 

What will Trump do?

After four years, the Americans learnt that an outsider may be attractive, but cannot always get the job done. 

And so they elected Joe Biden, a man with 50 years in politics. 

In a few days, Biden will take the oath and the question is what happens to Trump after he leaves the White House. 

Jimmy Carter had his peanut farm, the Bush family has its oil interest and Trump has his properties and merchandise. 

But, they are not exactly booming and experts believe he will return to real estate with interests outside America with India being one of the options. 

Trump's son Donald Trump Jr in 2019 said that "India is a market that we would be very interested post-politics". 

The question is who will fund Trump's properties.

His most important lender, Deutsche Bank is reportedly cutting ties with him. 

Trump can run for the presidency again but that road has many legal hurdles.

Also, it will be difficult for the US to trust Trump again. 

Giants like Coca Cola, Marriott, AT&T, Walmart, General Motos are already suspending their political donations and more companies can follow. 

This means that Trump will be going to need a new sales pitch.