The Trump Organization has recently launched a self-branded mobile service and a $499 smartphone, dubbed Trump Mobile. Marketed towards conservative consumer, the Organization is keen to position this wireless service as an alternative to major telecom providers. The new mobile venture will include call centres based in the United States and phones made in America.
The Trump family, long known for its real estate empire, luxury hotels, and golf resorts, has in recent years ventured into newer arenas including digital media and cryptocurrency.
The Trump Organization, which is the main holding entity for most of the U.S. president’s business ventures, said ahead of Trump’s inauguration that control of the company would be handed to his children, replicating the arrangement from his first term, though concerns about potential conflicts of interest remain and were expressed by a several commentators.
“The new wireless plan and handset announcement is the latest attempt by the Trump organization to capitalize on the President’s popularity, much like Truth Social, the DJT stock listing and crypto endeavours”, said Gil Luria, Head of Technology Research, D.A. Davidson & Co, Portland.
“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, Law Professor, Harvard.
“I don’t see much impact from Trump mobile across the industry, as half of it’s addressable market is negated by political parties, and then from there, this industry already has a lot of stickiness to current providers. These companies need scale to work, and we’ll see if the company can execute on the most important thing – consistency of network”, said David Wagner, Head of Equities, Aptus Capital Advisors, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Source: Reuters
Image Credit: Stock Image
