Trump’s organization enters the mobile phones business

Donald Trump’s family business is launching a new Trump telephone service in his latest plan to win the name of the US president.

Trump’s organization, which is governed by his sons, said He plans to sell a smartphone with a gold color built in the United States for $ 499 ($ ​​367.50), along with the mobile phones service for a monthly fee of $ 47.45 -a reference to their father, which serves as the 47th and 45th president of the country.

Ethical guards have said that the most recent venture is another means of potential corruption and conflict of interest.

A supply chain expert also told the BBC that making such a phone in the United States of all US components would be “practically impossible”.

“It is amazing that Trump’s family has created another way to win President Trump personally while in service,” said Megan Folkner, Director of Citizens Communications for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

Trump said he put his business interests in confidence, which is managed by his children. The White House maintains that it works in the interest of all Americans.

But D -Ja Folkner said the last endeavor raised familiar questions, including whether the new business would win customers from people who hope to influence Trump and how the president will develop policies and regulation of the industry where his family now has a stake.

Technology experts have asked what the “Trump organization” in the United States claims to their phones and claim that it is probably not possible to produce smartphones from scratch in the United States.

“They don’t even have a prototype working. It’s extremely unlikely,” said Prof. Tinglong Dai, who teaches the management of operations at Jones Hopkins’ Business School.

“You will need to have a miracle. You will need to have savings of scale. You will need to have a sustainable demand for this type of product,” added Prof. Dai.

The decision comes when Trump is trying to put pressure on Apple CEO Tim Cook to produce an iPhone sold to US buyers in the United States.

Last month the President threatened Put a 25% tax on the import “at least” on the iPhone not manufactured in America.

CCS Insight analyst Leo Gebi noted that the United States “just doesn’t have the high -tech supply chain at the moment” needed to assemble smartphones, especially not in time to be released in August, as Trump’s organization said.

“However, the device may be assembled in the United States with parts imported from abroad. This may be the most common result that allows T1 to claim American sovereignty,” said G -N -Gebbie.

The message was slightly for details, including the name of the business partner, who would manage the service and licensed the name.

The Trump Organization did not immediately answer questions from the BBC for its business partner, criticism of potential ethics, and the request for details of its claim “Built in the United States”.

In the announcement of her plans, she said that “hardworking Americans deserve a wireless service that is accessible, reflects their values ​​and provides a reliable quality they can rely on.”

He has set a “discount” policy international calls to families with members who serve outside the US in the military.

The message says that the mobile service will have customer support staff based in the US to answer questions, as well as a gold -colored phone that is currently available for pre -order.

The deal is an extension of a business strategy that Trump received long before his presidency, strucking deals to sell his name to hoteliers and operators of golf courses in exchange for fees and remuneration.

But the opportunities for profit from his brand have expanded since he entered politics a decade ago.

In his latest financial disclosure, Trump announced that he had made more than $ 600 million last year, including millions of items such as Trump Bible, watches and scents.

Forbes in March estimated that its net value was $ 5.1 billion, more than twice as big as what was a year earlier.

It says that the jump is partly due to Diehard after the president, who is credited to support the value of the Trump social media company, which managed the social platform Truth, which last year represented half of its wealth.

The US mobile phone market is currently dominated by three major players: AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, which all offer a telephone service starting from less than $ 40 a month.

There are also an increasing number of smaller companies that pay to use these networks to direct niche groups of potential customers, offering more prices or personalized plans.

The largest of those companies, known as mobile virtual networks providers, have less than 10 million subscribers, according to a 2024 report from the Federal Communication Committee.

Mint Mobile, backed by Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds, was sold to T-Mobile for $ 1.35 billion in 2023. At that time, an analyst estimated that the service had approximately two to three million subscribers.

The actor had a 25% share in the business, giving him a potential payment of about $ 300 million.