Former President Donald Trump caught posing with Philly Mob boss

Former President Donald Trump is in hot water with the media again after he was caught posing for a picture with a former Philadelphia mob boss. 

Joseph "Skinny Joey" Salvatore Merlino was head of the Philadelphia Mafia in the 1990s before being brought down on charges of gambling and extortion, for which he served a 14-year sentence. 

Unlike most mob bosses, Merlino was a big fan of media exposure and never missed a moment to get in front of a camera. So maybe that’s why his photo with Trump went viral shortly after it was obtained by The Inquirer. 

In the image, the former President can be seen next to Merlino and an unidentified man giving a thumbs up and smiling, something that's provided his detractors and allies with a new piece of evidence to use against him in his 2024 presidential bid. 

“This photo,” wrote The Inquirer's Chris Brennan, “is likely to renew concerns among Trump loyalists eager to help him retake the White House next year.”

Brennan added that Trump’s allies would see the image as further proof that “he still lacks the sort political protective infrastructure that would prevent a candidate for president from taking a picture with a convicted mobster whose last stint in federal prison ended in mid-2020.”

A spokesperson for Donald Trump said that the photo was a non-issue since the former President often takes photos with fans without knowing their backgrounds. 

“President Trump takes countless photos with people,” Trump’s spokesperson told The Inquirer, “that does not mean he knows every single person he comes in contact with.”

Interestingly, The Inquirer noted that Trump’s representative wouldn’t say whether or not he knew Merlino, but it is unlikely he didn’t since they moved in the same circles in the late-1990s. 

“Trump controlled a collection of casinos in Atlantic City in the 1990s at a time when Merlino was well-known and on the rise in an organized crime operation with interests in Philadelphia and Atlantic City,” Brennan wrote. 

The former President has yet to comment on his photo op with Merlino but the former Philly Mob boss told The Inquirer that Trump didn’t know who he was. 

“The guy had no idea who I was,” Merlino said in a phone interview according to Brennan. 

“I’m a golfer,” Merlino continued, adding that “there were 100 people in line waiting to take pictures. He takes pictures with everybody. He’s the nicest guy in the world.”

Merlino was less willing to talk about the third man in the photo, saying “I don’t even know who he was,” which has led some to question the Trump campaign's new vetting and approval protocols.

After a disastrous dinner with known white supremacist Nick Fuentes and unhinged rapper Kanye West led to intense political backlash, Trump’s team enacted a new set of new protocols for vetting Trump’s engagements. 

Taking a photo with a known mob boss and alleged murderer puts Trump in a very difficult situation, one that could cost him the 2024 Republican nomination.