Former US President Ronald Reagan shakes hands with the future president, Donald Trump.

The Republicans behind US President Donald Trump have been banned from using the former president�s name to raise money for the 2020 presidential election.

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute warned the Trump reelection campaign and the Republican National Committee (RNC) about the using Reagan�s name after Trump asked his supporters to buy gold-colored coins with images of Trump and Reagan.

The Make America Great Again Committee would benefit from a donation of $45 or more and the supporters could have a limited edition of the coins.

Titled Ronald Reagan and Yours Truly, the email the supporters received on July 19 included a picture showing the two men shake hands at the White House in 1987.

I just saw our new Trump-Reagan Commemorative Coin Sets and WOW, these coins are beautiful - I took one look and immediately knew that I wanted YOU to have a set. These aren�t any ordinary coins. They symbolize an important time in our Nation. This year, in addition to being re-elected as YOUR President, it also marks the 40th anniversary of our Nation�s 40th President, Ronald Reagan, read the email.

The GOP has apparently agreed to stop using the former president to promote Trump.

So the Washington Post is running the Reagan Foundation, and RINO Paul Ryan is on the Board of Fox, which has been terrible. We will win anyway, even with the phony @FoxNews suppression polls (which have been seriously wrong for 5 years)! https://t.co/fOi3AROxuz

- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2020
We own the likeness of President Reagan and they used his image for the coin without our consent. We called the RNC and asked them to cease and desist the use of President Reagan on the coin and they agreed, said Reagan Foundation Chief Marketing Officer Melissa Giller in a statement to the Hill.

Michael Ahrens, the RNC�s communications director, defended the move trying to portray Reagan as a figure belonging to the whole GOP.

President Reagan was a proud Republican and supporter of a party that has carried on his fight for conservative principles of economic opportunity and limited government.Ahrens said. His likeness is used by thousands of Republicans each year who gather around the country for ‘Reagan Dinners,� and his library regularly hosts debates for our presidential candidates.

The RNC�s communications director further reminded the Reagan Foundation that the Trump family had recently raised money for them.

Given that the Reagan Foundation just recently hosted the Trump family to raise money for its organization and has not objected to us using President Reagan�s likeness before, their objection came as a surprise. Even though we believe our use of the image was appropriate, we will stop emailing this fundraising solicitation as a courtesy, he said.

SOURCE: PRESS TV