Did you know Trump took a photo with a former mob boss?

Donald Trump has made news for all kinds of worrying reasons but one of the most interesting investigative stories that was ever written about the former president revealed his ties with a former mafia boss.

In January 2023, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported on a photo of Trump and former Philly mob boss Joey Merlino taken at Trump's South Florida International Golf Club West Palm Beach.

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. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By the Federal Bureau of Investigation

Unlike most mob bosses, Merlino was a big fan of media exposure and never missed a moment to get in front of a camera, which may be 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 at the time that the photo was a non-issue since the former President often took 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 was unlikely that 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 never commented on his photo op with Merlino but the former Philly Mob boss told The Inquirer that Trump didn’t know who he was at the time they published the image. 

“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 led some to question the Trump campaign's new vetting and approval protocols at the time. 

Trump's photo with the former mob boss didn't make a dent in his popularity, and one year on from the report, the former president was a shoo-in for the Republican Party's presidential nomination.