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The Trump Organization has announced plans to launch a mobile phone service, in the latest effort by the family business to capitalise on Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
The company, which is managed by Trump’s sons, on Monday unveiled a gold-coloured, US-built smartphone for $499 that will be released in August. The flagship plan of the “Trump Mobile” operator will cost $47.45 per month.
The creation of the mobile service is part of a series of recent Trump family moves to expand their international corporate empire. The company has in the past faced concerns around potential conflicts of interest, given Donald Trump’s powerful position as US president.
The plan will offer telehealth services and free international calling to more than 100 countries. Trump Mobile will offer 5G service through all three major cellular carriers in the US — AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile.
The ‘T1 Mobile’ service is being positioned by the Trump Organization as an “all-American service for our nation’s hardest-working people”. The group said the ‘T1 phone’ on offer is a “sleek, gold” device that is “proudly designed and built in the United States”.
Donald Trump has targeted smartphone makers in his efforts to bring manufacturing back to the US. No major smartphone makers produce their devices in the US, and the president in May threatened the likes of Apple and Samsung with a tariff of at least 25 per cent as soon as the end of June if they did not manufacture and build those products domestically.
“Trump Mobile is going to change the game, we’re building on the movement to put America first, and we will deliver the highest levels of quality and service,” said Donald Trump Jr, executive vice-president of the Trump Organization.
A more than 200-page filing published by the US Office of Government Ethics last week detailed hundreds of the US president’s business ventures, including a role at cryptocurrency group World Liberty Financial from which he has derived income of $57.4mn since the company was established last October.
The annual financial disclosure lists Trump’s earnings from various books and property investments, including royalties from The Greenwood Bible — “the only bible endorsed by President Trump” — of $1.3mn and “golf related revenue” of $28.1mn from his role at Jupiter Golf Club in Florida.
Income from the president’s Trump Watches business came to $2.8mn, while his Trump Sneakers & Fragrances line provided income of $2.5mn, the filing with the US ethics watchdog shows.
The Trump family’s media company announced on June 5 it was seeking to create a bitcoin exchange traded fund, in an apparent attempt to make the most of heightened interest in digital currencies.
Earlier this year, the Trump Organization agreed a real estate deal involving a Qatari-state-owned company and a Saudi construction company and launched a Trump International Tower and Hotel in Dubai, shortly before the US president visited the Gulf.
According to its website, Trump Mobile’s products and services are not designed, developed, manufactured, distributed or sold by The Trump Organization or any of its respective affiliates or principals.
A company called DTTM Operations LLC last week applied with the US Patent and Trademark Office to use the Trump name for mobile phones, battery cases and chargers.
