Trump Organization announces mobile phone service and a $499 gold phone
The Trump Organization announced it is starting a cellular phone service called T1 Phone by Trump Mobile that will charge $47.45 a month and include unlimited calls, text and data. It also plans to roll out a new $499 phone that will be built in the U.S.
The new service was designed to coincide with the 10-year anniversary of President Trump's announcement of his first presidential run, the Trump Organization said in a Monday statement.
The company said its mobile phone plan, which it dubbed the 47 Plan in a nod to Mr. Trump's current rank as the 47th U.S. president, won't require a contract or a credit check. In an interview on "Mornings with Maria" on Fox Business, Eric Trump — Mr. Trump's son and the executive vice president of the Trump Organization — said the new phone and service will align with his father's policy plans to boost American manufacturing and employment.
"We want to have customer service by Americans for Americans," Eric Trump said in the Monday interview. "We want to have phones built by Americans, for Americans, and, you know, and we want to do it better than anybody. We're going to disrupt the space."
The new mobile phone and service takes direct aim at phone manufacturers such as Apple, which has faced pressure from Mr. Trump to shift its manufacturing from China and India to the U.S. Last month, the president threatened to impose a 25% tariff on Apple products if the computer giant didn't reshore some of its manufacturing.
If Apple were to build its iPhones in the U.S., they would cost about $3,500 each, more than triple their current retail price of about $1,000, because of the higher cost of manufacturing in the U.S., Wedbush analyst Dan Ives has said.
The new Trump phone and cellular service raise a host of ethics issues, said Robert Weissman, the co-president of Public Citizen, a consumer rights advocacy group. Rival phone companies and manufacturers could face a dilemma if they have a cheaper phone or service, he noted.
"Will they be intimidated to advertise that?" he pointed out.
And if the phone is made with foreign-made parts, it raises issues about whether the company could get a break on the Trump administration's tariffs.
"It threatens to be a real distortion of the economy around the Trump brand," he said. "My message to hard-working Americans is to slam down the phone in the face of this marketing ploy."
What does Trump Mobile phone plan include?The Trump Mobile plan will "revolutionize cell phones, mobile calling," Eric Trump told Fox Business.
"It's going to be cheaper, 47 bucks a month. You're going to have more internet. More international dialing for free, hundreds of countries. International dialing for free. It is the biggest bang for the buck," he added.
The plan will include free calls to more than 100 countries, including those with U.S. military bases. People with the plan will also have access to 24/7 roadside assistance through Drive America, as well as telehealth services, the company said.
The Trump Organization added that it will debut a T1 Phone in August that will cost $499. An image of the phone depicts a gold-colored device emblazoned with the phrase, "Make America Great Again."
The device, which will have a fingerprint sensor and the ability to unlock using face recognition, will include 256 gigabytes of internal storage and 12gb of RAM.
"I think we're going to really shake up the space in a very big way, both in terms of the actual hardware of the films and then obviously e-sim cards, and then just what you get for a plan per month," Eric Trump added.
Aimee Picchi is the associate managing editor for CBS MoneyWatch, where she covers business and personal finance. She previously worked at Bloomberg News and has written for national news outlets including USA Today and Consumer Reports.
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