Remember when Trump took a picture with a former mob boss?

Donald Trump found himself in a lot of trouble with the media in January 2023 after a picture he took with some of his fans turned out to feature the infamous former Philadelphia mob boss Joey Merlino. 

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 Federal Bureau of Investigation, Public Domain

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

Photo Credit: Screenshot from Instagram @skinny_joey_merlino_

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. 

Photo Credit: X @AmerPartyPublic

The Inquirer's Chris Brennan wrote at the time that the photo Trump took with Merlino was “likely to renew concerns among Trump loyalists eager to help him retake the White House next year.” However, in reality, it did little to harm Trump's third bid for the presidency. 

Brennan added that Trump’s allies would see the image as further proof that he still lacked "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 was unlikely since 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. 

Trump 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. 

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

Photo Credit: Screenshot from Instagram @skinny_joey_merlino_

“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.”

Photo Credit: Screenshot from Instagram @skinny_joey_merlino_

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. 

In November 2022, Trump had a disastrous dinner with well-known white supremacist Nick Fuentes and rapper Kanye West, which led to intense political backlash and 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 put Trump in a very difficult situation at the time. However, while some believed the photo would hurt Trump, it turned out to be a non-issue. The picture was quickly out of the news cycle.