


Like most appliances, the Instant Pot used to keep quiet about its politics.
But recently, it went all-in for President Trump.
In June, a lobbyist for the countertop cooker announced a new line of devices emblazoned with Mr. Trump’s slogan “Make America Great Again.” The lobbyist said other manufacturers owned by the same private-equity firm would also make Trump-themed products: snow globes, dinner plates, flatware, bedsheets. The companies would donate all proceeds to the fund to build Mr. Trump’s presidential library.
It looked like a page out of a new political playbook.
The New York-based private equity firm, Centre Lane Partners, wanted the Trump administration’s help with tariffs and a looming antitrust inquiry, according to lobbying filings and interviews with people on Capitol Hill. To get it, the firm’s lobbyist augmented the usual backroom meetings with newly popular tactics in Mr. Trump’s second term: over-the-top public flattery of the president and gifts to his cause.
In this case, it backfired.
The lobbyist announced the merchandise — complete with mock-ups of a wee Mr. Trump inside a snow globe — without seeking the Trump Organization’s permission to use its trademarks or offering to give the president’s company a cut.
After The New York Times asked the Trump Organization about these plans, the company’s lawyers moved quickly to stop them.