Trump-branded phones? New legal move suggests he might be 'serious'
President Donald Trump has filed a trademark that appears to indicate he is interested in forming a telecommunications service that would compete with cell phone providers, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.
"DTTM Operations LLC, the entity that manages trademarks on behalf of President Donald Trump, has applied to use his name and the term T1 for telecom services," reported Kelcee Griffis. This trademark application, filed on Thursday, covers "mobile phones, cases, battery chargers and wireless telephone services, as well as potentially retail stores."
This trademark doesn't necessarily indicate Trump will launch such a service, but there are signs it does reflect genuine interest on his part.
“While a trademark filing doesn’t guarantee a product launch, the specificity of the applications points to serious consideration,” said trademark attorney Josh Gerben, saying that the filing would indicate a potential Trump-branded phone or cellular service in competition with Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. “It would mark a significant expansion for Trump’s private business, which has historically focused on real estate, hospitality, and branded merchandise.”
Trump has already made a foray into the communications business. After his involvement in the Jan. 6 attack got him kicked off Twitter, since renamed to X by tech billionaire Elon Musk, Trump founded his own competing platform, Truth Social, under the Trump Media and Technology Group.
The president was ultimately allowed back onto the X platform, and Truth Social has consistently been hemorrhaging money, but Trump continues to use it as his primary platform for issuing messages directly to the public.