Harkening back to their roots as businessmen, the Trump family on Monday introduced Trump Mobile to the public. Trump Mobile is billed as a mobile virtual network operator that will provide packaged services to customers typical of cell phone companies. In the future, Trump Mobile will also offer its own cell phone, the T1, the Trump Organization said. As with many other business endeavors by the Trump family, this latest venture has received media pushback.
Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, two of President Donald Trump’s children, are the faces of the new business venture. The company said the phone will be “built in the United States,” though CNBC reported the phone “will likely be produced by a Chinese original device manufacturer.” Prioritizing domestic products is reflective of the Trump administration’s trade policies. Trump Jr. said: “Our company is based right here in the United States because we know it’s what our customers want and deserve.”
Trump’s sons noted a “lackluster performance in the mobile industry” and said they wanted to tackle improvements to this category of American technology.
Many business ventures have been started under Trump’s name, including cryptocurrency, footwear, and even Bibles.
Eric Trump commented on some of the technological business ventures of the Trump Organization to Fox Business: “More and more we are using technology as a company… Truth Social was to correct freedom of speech… crypto… is the fact that they were de-banking all conservatives… Trump Mobile is going to revolutionize, kind of, cell phones, mobile calling.”
Critics are arguing that the Trump Organization’s business ventures present conflicts of interest for the White House and are an attempt to profit from the presidency.
“The puzzle to me is why are they resurrecting this idea… to milk a little bit of extra money out of this,” said smartphone industry analyst Horace Dediu. He continued, “Then again, there might be a population of Trump fans who are willing to spend on anything Trump.”
Critics are also expressing doubts that Trump Mobile will meet all the promises and standards that it has set.
“Frankly,” consumer tech reporter David Pierce writes, “it’s the whole ‘made in the USA’ bit that is the most unlikely thing about the T1.” He claims that experts do not believe cell phone production in the United States is a current possibility.
Despite harsh skepticism, Trump Jr. remains optimistic that “Trump Mobile is going to change the game…”.
Cell phones from Trump Mobile will not be rolled out until late summer or early fall, the Trump Organization said. Until then, the public can merely speculate about the longevity of the business venture.
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