The Trump Organization announced its newest business venture Monday: Trump Mobile, a new phone and cellular service. This is the latest in a long list of products and services to bear the Trump brand, and one of many business ventures to set off alarms for those concerned that the president and his family are using their time in the White House for personal gain.

Trumps announce Trump Mobile with made in America focus

The Trump Organization, currently run by the president’s oldest sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, announced the new Trump Mobile business venture on the 10th anniversary of their father announcing his run for president ahead of the 2016 election. They presented the new phone and mobile service as an America-focused project. The new business venture includes the creation of new “T1” smartphones that are to be manufactured in the United States. Trump Mobile will also include a mobile phone service, as well as customer service representatives located within the United States.

In the type of nationalistic language that has become part of the Trump political brand, Eric Trump said to Fox Business that “you’re not calling up call centers in Bangladesh,” for customer service with the new Trump phones, “you’re doing it right out of St Louis, Missouri.”

Trump Mobile, another costly, branded Trump product

As CNBC reported, information posted on the new business’s website indicates that the Trump phones will launch in September, with pre-orders being collected now. The new, gold-colored T1 phones are to be sold for $499. A new mobile service plan, called  “The 47 Plan,” will be available for a monthly fee of $47.45.

The name and price of the plan are both references to Trump’s current term as the 47th president of the United States. Trump customers would be paying a premium for this service, as similar phone plans cost $25 per month from Verizon or $30 per month from Mint Mobile. Close reading of the Trump Mobile website notes that “Trump Mobile, its products and services are not designed, developed, manufactured, distributed or sold by The Trump Organization or any of their respective affiliates or principals,” implying that this venture is primarily a licensing deal to add the Trump brand to products made outside of the company.

This would be in line with other Trump ventures, such as when Trump sold “God Bless the USA” Bibles for $59.99 in collaboration with country singer Lee Greenwood, who wrote the song of the same name and included lyrics printed in the Trump-endorsed Bibles.

Ethical red flags abound during Trump’s time as president

Trump Mobile represents the latest in a long list of ways that Trump and his family are profiting from various business ventures while he is in the White House. This creates possible conflicts of interest whereby companies and other actors, including those from other countries, can potentially influence the president by financially benefiting his family. For instance, the Trump Organization has recently announced real estate deals in Vietnam as well as Qatar and other locations in the Middle East.

Adding to ethical concerns is the possibility that Trump could enact policies that could have a significant impact on his family’s businesses and the businesses of competitors. For example, Trump recently threatened to raise tariffs on goods from Apple not produced in the U.S.; Apple is the maker of the iPhone, a product which would presumably be in competition with the new Trump phones.

Conflicts of interest are nothing new for Trump; during his first term, the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington documented over 3,400 such conflicts, including hundreds of officials from the U.S. Congress or from foreign governments visiting Trump’s businesses.  

If past examples are any indication, some of Trump’s supporters will be willing to pay, and even pay extra, to use his branded phones and service instead of those of other, more established phone companies. And many of his backers will likely dismiss the serious ethical concerns of Trump and his family making money from the same industries that he regulates and impacts through his policies.