- The Trump Organization is licensing the family name to a mobile carrier that will be called Trump Mobile. Included in the phone plan’s monthly bill are a slew of benefits like a telemedicine service, roadside assistance, and device protection. Slated for August of this year is a Trump-branded smartphone named the T1.
The Trump Organization is continuing its expansion from real estate and hospitality to technology.
On Monday, the Trump family company announced it was licensing its name to a new wireless service dubbed Trump Mobile—and a soon-to-be released gold-plated smartphone called the T1.
The Trump Organization’s executive vice presidents Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump appeared at a launch event at Trump Tower in New York on Monday. The event took place on the 10-year anniversary of the day their father, President Donald Trump, announced his candidacy for president.
Trump Mobile will be powered by a wireless provider called Liberty Wireless, according to its website.
The Trump Mobile plan will include unlimited talk, text, and data. The plan also comes with additional features aimed to help customers get “true value” from a mobile carrier, Trump Jr. said. Trump Mobile includes benefits as telemedicine access, roadside assistance, and phone warranty plans.
The plans will cost $47.45 a month, an apparent reference to Trump having been the 45th and 47th president.
Announced in the plans was an effort to ensure Trump Mobile was an entirely U.S.-based company. The T1 smartphone, slated for release in August, will be manufactured in the U.S. Trump Mobile’s website lists it at a retail price of $499, with a $100 down payment. The company will also have a 250-person customer service center, in St. Louis, Trump said.
Under the elder Trump, the Trump Organization had a long history of branching out into different branded products in addition to its traditional real-estate business. Over the years, the company has sold Trump-branded vodkas, board games, and even made attempts at an airline. More recently, the Trump family business has focused on tech businesses, launching several crypto products and starting a company for its upstart social-media platform, Truth Social.
“This year has been a year of technology,” Eric Trump said on Monday. “Don and I have spent so much of our time on that.”
Trump Mobile is the latest expansion of the Trump family business at a time when its patriarch sits in the Oval Office. Before taking office, Trump placed his assets in a revocable trust of which he is the sole beneficiary; the trust is managed by his son, Trump Jr. So far this year, the Trump Organization has made major strides in developing new properties in Vietnam and Qatar.
The Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), the holding company that owns Truth Social, also launched a fintech platform that includes several cryptocurrency ETFs. That latest venture is in addition to TMTG’s existing social-media site and streaming service.
Another separate initiative saw Trump launch a memecoin in January, just one day before his inauguration. The price of the Trump branded cryptocurrency shot up in the first couple days after its release, but has since fallen 77% since its peak. Last month, Trump held a dinner for the top 220 investors in his coin.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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