President Donald Trump’s family business has announced the launch of “Trump Mobile,” its latest venture. Part of its growing tech and media portfolio, Trump Mobile is garnering more criticism about whether or not he is using the presidency to enrich himself and the Trump Organization.
Trump’s sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, executive vice presidents of the Trump Organization, announced the launch of the mobile package, which includes a $499 mobile device and a $47 monthly cellular plan.
Eric Trump said Trump Mobile would “revolutionize” cell phones and mobile calling, following other ventures like Truth Social, which he said came as a result of a lack of “freedom of speech” for political conservatives. The business also recently entered the cryptocurrency industry, which Eric Trump said initially began “debanking all conservatives.”
The Trump Mobile phone, called the T1, is fittingly gold (a Trump signature) and is branded with the letter “T” and the American flag on the back of the device. The family business claims the phones will be made in America and will be serviced through the networks of the U.S.’s three largest mobile carriers, likely AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. However, experts are already throwing cold water on the Trump Organization’s promise that the devices will be completely made in the USA.
The latest Trump business venture is quickly being condemned as yet another example of President Trump using the power of the Executive Office of the President of the United States—a power he has tried to expand through control of the federal government’s multi-trillion-dollar budget—to further enrich himself.
“President Donald Trump is a walking ethics violation. This so-called ‘Trump Mobile’ is only the latest example of how the President abuses his powers for his own gain instead of improving the lives of the American people,” said U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., who sits on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, in a statement provided to theGrio.
“Right now, people can’t afford groceries, rent, or healthcare. To make matters worse, Congressional Republicans want to rip away healthcare coverage from 16.7 million people,” Rep. Kelly added. “Instead of lowering costs of living, President Trump hosted his own birthday parade and ignored the millions of Americans who want a public servant in the White House — not a king.”
The announcement of Trump Mobile comes after President Trump hosted a private $148 million crypto dinner at the Trump National in Washington, D.C., for investors who bought his memecoin, $TRUMP. The dinner set off alarm bells among Democrats, including several who joined U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., to introduce a bill regulating cryptocurrency ownership for sitting presidents, vice presidents, members of Congress and their immediate families.
“Trump and his family consistently put profit over principle—treating the presidency like a business opportunity, with ethics, perception, and conflicts of interest tossed aside. But what else should we expect from a convicted felon selling Bibles with his name on them?” said Anthony Coley, a political analyst and former Biden appointee for the U.S. Department of Justice. He told theGrio, “The real disgrace is how many supporters shrug it off—and how conservatives, who control the levers of power in Washington, just look the other way.”
