[NEW YORK] Donald Trump’s family business licenced its name to launch a US mobile service and a US$499 smartphone on Monday (Jun 16), calling it Trump Mobile, in the latest deal brokered by the president’s children to capitalise on his last name while he is in office.
The new mobile venture, announced at Trump Tower in Manhattan, will operate using the networks of the three major US wireless carriers. Further details about the venture, including those about the family’s partner in the business and financial terms of their licensing deal, were not immediately disclosed.
“We are going to be introducing an entire package of products where people can come and they can get telemedicine on their phones for one flat monthly fee, roadside assistance on their cars, unlimited texting to 100 countries around the world,” said the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.
The president has said he put his business interests in a trust managed by his children to avoid conflicts of interest, but income from such business ventures will eventually enrich the president, who sits atop that series of Trump family firms.
In the president’s financial disclosure released on Friday, he reported more than US$600 million in income from licensing deals, crypto projects, golf clubs and other ventures. Those numbers appeared to be through the end of 2024, before he was inaugurated for his second term as president. Since then, the Trump family’s crypto projects alone have brought in hundreds of millions of US dollars.
“No one who has been paying attention could miss that President Trump considers the presidency a vehicle to grow his family’s wealth. Maybe this example will help more come to see this undeniable truth,” said Lawrence Lessig, a law professor at Harvard Law School.
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MVNO operator
The mobile service will include call centres based in the US and phones made in America, according to the announcement by the Trump Organization, the term the family uses to describe the president’s multiple business ventures. Current wireless service providers, including AT&T currently operate call centres in the US.
T1 Mobile uses the “Trump” name under a trademark licence, similar to other Trump-branded ventures. As a result, the Trump Organization is not involved in designing the smartphone, manufacturing it, or providing the cellular service.
The US mobile network market is dominated by three national carriers: Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile, which together control over 95 per cent of the wireless market. But mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), which buy network capacity from the major US carriers, are becoming increasingly popular for targeting niche markets.
Actor Ryan Reynolds was both an investor and spokesperson for Mint Mobile, a low-cost MVNO aimed at light phone users, which was later acquired by T-Mobile for US$1.35 billion.
It can be difficult for such ventures to make money, an analyst said.
“MVNOs account for barely three-4 per cent of US wireless subscriptions and customer churn tends to be high,” said Michael Ashley Schulman, chief investment officer at Running Point Capital Advisors. “Unless Trump Mobile cracks the million-subscriber mark-well above most celebrity MVNOs – the financial impact is de minimis.” A website that went live after the announcement said the new Trump-branded smartphone will be available from September. The new network will be available for a subscription price of US$47.45 per month, a reference to Trump, who was the 45th President in his previous term in office and is now serving as the 47th President.
“This latest move raises more questions than answers. As always the devil is in the details given that it is unclear around the actual commercial relationship with the telecom players and so forth,” said Paolo Pescatore, TMT analyst at PP Foresight.
Licensing deal
DTTM Operations – the entity managing President Trump’s trademarks – has filed applications to use his name and the term “T1” for telecom-related services.
The filings, submitted Thursday to the US Patent and Trademark Office, cover mobile phones, accessories like cases and chargers, wireless telephone services, and possibly even retail stores.
The smartphone industry in the US is among the most saturated and competitive in the world, with leading global players Apple and Samsung dominating the market.
Nearly all of these smartphones bought in the US are manufactured abroad – primarily in China, South Korea, and increasingly in India and Vietnam.
Despite the strength of US-based tech brands, there is no significant domestic smartphone production infrastructure, largely due to high labour costs, supply chain complexity, and reliance on overseas component sourcing.
