WTF? There were plans to release "a Trump-branded Instant Pot to bankroll the Trump Presidential Library?" [View all]

Two months ago, in the bustling democracy of the r/instantpot subreddit—565,000 members strong—one of its most prolific posters, the enigmatically named 000ArdeliaLortz000, sounded the alarm. “Instant Pot goes to the dark side,” they wrote.

The post read like a kitchen-appliance thriller: when Instant Brands went bankrupt in 2023, the company was scooped up by a New York private equity firm, Centre Lane Partners, which — according to the post — planned to release a Trump-branded Instant Pot to bankroll the Trump Presidential Library. “If you’re as horrified as I am,” the user urged, “write to them.”

In the comments, dismay mixed with confusion. One person gamely reconstructed the Instant Pot’s corporate biography: invented by a Chinese immigrant to Canada, nurtured in Canadian hands for most of its life, sold off in a leveraged buyout, stripped for parts, and now—apparently—poised to make, as another commenter put it, “fascist-themed cookware.” Another tried to dissuade owners from destroying their current models: “Just remember that doing that is a waste of money. It’s already spent. Just don’t give them any more.”

And then there were the pragmatists, asking the only question that really mattered: “So… is the Ninja Foodi a good alternative to an Instant Pot?”

https://www.salon.com/2025/08/10/when-your-kitchen-staple-goes-maga/