A new Trump-branded smartphone service is being launched by the Trump Organization, the family business of former US President Donald Trump. The service will include a gold-colored phone, dubbed the T1, set to retail for $499 (£367.50), and mobile services starting at a monthly fee of $47.45—the latter a nod to Trump having served as the country’s 47th and 45th president. The announcement of this venture has raised eyebrows over potential conflicts of interest and corruption, with experts also questioning the feasibility of producing smartphones entirely in the United States, given the complex global supply chain required for such a project.
Ethics watchdogs, including Meghan Faulkner from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), have voiced concerns about President Trump’s ability to profit personally from his office. There are also questions about the impact this new business could have on the president’s decision-making regarding the telecommunications industry, where he now has a personal stake.
Furthermore, technological experts have doubted the claim made by the Trump Organization that the T1 smartphones will be “built in the United States.” Prof. Tinglong Dai from Johns Hopkins’ Carey Business School stated that the “probability of that happening is extremely unlikely” without significant economies of scale and sustained demand for such a product. This claim comes as Trump has been pressuring technology companies, such as Apple, to manufacture devices within the US, even threatening import taxes on products not made in America.
The move by Trump’s family to expand into the mobile phone market also looks to capitalize on an existing trend of niche providers targeting specific consumer segments with lower prices or specialized plans. However, even with this, the market competition is considerable, dominated by major players like AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile, with smaller competitors having under 10 million subscribers as of 2024.
Despite these competitive landscape and regulatory concerns, Trump’s personal business ventures have been lucrative—the former president’s net worth reportedly more than doubled to a $5.1 billion estimation by Forbes, thanks in part to his “diehard following” and the popularity of his social media platform, Truth Social.
No details about the business partner running the service or the specifics of their ‘built in the United States’ claim were immediately available from the Trump Organization when approached for comment.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjrld3erq4eo
