“I like thinking big. I always have. To me it’s very simple: if you’re going to be thinking anyway, you might as well think big.”
Those wereDonald Trump’swords to writer Tony Schwartz in the Art of the Deal. In his second term, Trump has been thinking big about making money. Since his reelection campaign began, Trump isestimatedto have more than doubled his net worth to $5.4bn.
A sizeable chunk of that cash has come from the launch of Trump-branded products. This week the Trump Organization entered the mobile phone business with a Trump-branded service that will include a“sleek gold” phone, which costs $499, that is “made in America”. Maybe?
Never to miss a patriotic marketing moment, they launched Trump Mobile at Trump Tower in New York on the 10-year anniversary of their father’s announcement at the top of a gold escalator, to the sound of Neil Young’s Rockin’ in the Free World, that he would run for president. The premium tier of service would be dubbed the 47 Plan, priced at $47.45 a month.
Donald Trump Jr said the brothers had partnered with “some of the greatest people in the industry to make sure that real Americans get true value from their mobile carriers”.
“Celebrity” phone launches are hardly new. The launch announcement came days after the actor-hosts of the popular SmartLess podcast – Will Arnett, Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes – announced their own cut price phone plan, and more than two years since actor Ryan Reynolds profited from his stake in Mint Mobile, sold to T-Mobile for $1.35bn.
So was Trump – or the Trumps – thinking big or just following a pattern of seemingly random licensing deals that renew concerns about the president’s business enterprises? After all, if Trump is really concerned about phone prices, he could – as president – push for legislative change.
“There was a lot of dialog when Trump returned to power that we would see in this term a particularly interesting residency in the White House about how much money would be made,” says marketing-PR guru Mark Borkowski, “and this is a typical Trump side-hustle playing off Maga patriotism.”
The blurred lines between business and politics, impacting how candidates are portrayed, policies are shaped and voters engage with the political process – commonly referred to as the commercialization of politics – may not be Trump’s to own exclusively, but he’s taken it to a new level.
“It is troubling, and more than in jest, that this is now a political economy and he’s actually saying this presidency is a brand-franchise,” says Borkowski. “There is no separation between power and profit. He’s redrawn the boundaries between commerce and the office of the president, and he’s accelerated the notion of post-ethical politics.”
The gold phone and patriotically-priced phone plan – “47” referring to Trump’s current term, and “45” referring to the previous – is only the latest ask of the Maga (Make America Great Again) faithful, otherwise known as ultra-Magas, to show their commitment in dollar terms.
“The Trumps’ continued business expansion often serves to reinforce Trump’s political persona rather than distract from it. For Maga supporters, his business ventures are interpreted as proof of his self-made success and outsider status – both key pillars of his political brand,” says Zak Revskyi at the New York brand management consultancy Baden Bower.
“These business moves don’t just coexist with his political identity – they actively feed into it. They help sustain the image of Trump as a results-oriented executive who blends capitalism with populism,” Revskyi adds.
On Thursday,Bloomberg revealedthat investment bank Dominari Holdings, where Donald Jr and Eric work as advisers, helped an obscure toymakersellingSmurf-branded tumblers, koala backpacks and plush sea turtles, pivot into crypto this week, sending its shares up more than 500%.
The outlet noted that there was no sign in regulatory filings that Trump family members were involved in this or previous crypto-related transactions through the bank – which is based in Trump Tower – but noted that “the gain added to the windfalls of executives orbiting the president’s family”.
Aside from the Trump’s well-publicized (and profitable) adventures in crypto – his ownership stake in World Liberty Financial produced $57,355,532 in income since it was launched last year – the family brand has upped by 20 its Trump-branded real-estate projects around the globe,calculated Citizens for Ethics,including an 80-storey skyscraper in Dubai, and plans for branded hotels in Riyadh and Jeddah, and a golf course in Qatar, to an estimated value of $10bn.
A 234-pagefinancial disclosure formreleased by the Office of Government Ethics this month showed 145 pages of stock and bond investments. The disclosure showed that 2024 was a very good year for royalty payments from products featuring his name and likeness.
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Among them,calculated NBC News, was $3m from a Save America coffee table book; $2.5m from Trump sneakers and fragrances; $2.8m from Trump watches; $1.3m from aTrump-endorsed Bible; and just over $1m each from “45” guitars and non-fungible token (NFT) sales. Most have at least some aspect of gold-coloring, according to a review of the “Golden Age of America” Trump collection.
Many of the assets are held in a revocable trust overseen by Donald Jr, including more than 100,000 shares, or 53%, of Trump Media and Technology Group, the company that owns Truth Social, valued at 5.15bn, or held in partnerships that do not require divestment under conflict of interest laws.
The business of selling the family name hums along despite, or because of, the on-the-fly dramas that envelope the White House from week to week.
The White House claims that the president “has been the most transparent president in history in all respects, including when it comes to his finances”, noting that Trump handed over “his multibillion-dollar empire in order to serve our country, and he has sacrificed greatly”.
The Trump phone, which analystsdoubtcan be “made in America”, as promotional materials assert, is merely an add-on to a thriving political-business operation.
Democrats have found it hard to find a footing in calling out the interplay, in part because Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, was similarly accused of allowing a family business of influence peddling to evolve around him and issued a pre-emptive pardon of family members before he left office.
“I don’t do it for the money. I’ve got enough, much more than I’ll ever need. I do it to do it,” Trump wrote in the opening lines of in the Art of the Deal, published in 1987. “Deals are my art form. Other people paint beautifully on canvas or write wonderful poetry. I like making deals, preferably big deals. That’s how I get my kicks.”
But under Trump politics and business have become melded as never before.
“It’s a new hyper-reality that exists in America,” says Borkowski. “It’s about turning political fandom into money, and he’s laughing all the way to the bank. He’s doing exactly what was expected. Nobody in Trump’s heartland sees this as damaging – it’s what they expect a deal-maker to do. The absurdity of everything Trump does is the point.”