from the dysfunction-junction dept
Back in June the Trump administration announced it would be launching a new mobile phone company, including a new Trump branded phone they claimed would be “made in the U.S.” As we noted then, it was all mostly bullshit: the venture was just a flimsy rebranding of an existing MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator), which in turn was being run over the T-Mobile network.
The Trump phone itself, which may or may not actually exist, also likely isn’t made in the U.S. In this way “Trump Mobile” was the perfect Trump family product: a thin, lazy rebranding marketing opportunity aimed at rubes who don’t know any better.
Curiously some Democratic officials have chosen this hill to have a little performative tussle on. Senators Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal, Adam Schiff, and Chris Van Hollen, along with Representatives Doris Matsui and Greg Casar, have written a letter to the FDA, FCC, and FTC asking how they plan to regulate Trump Mobile and avoid conflicts of interest:
“Trump Mobile heightens the risk that President Trump could expect preferential treatment from your agencies for this company and those that partner with it—or expect you to penalize competitors,” wrote the lawmakers. “It is critical that federal regulators continue to evenhandedly enforce competition and consumer protection laws against Trump Mobile and any companies with which it works, especially in the face of this opportunity for corruption and self-dealing for President Trump,” concluded the lawmakers.“
The lawmakers asked the agencies to respond to a series of questions by September 5, 2025, including: whether they have discussed the venture with President Trump, the Trump Organization, or Trump Mobile; their plans to avoid undue political influence; and whether they would allow President Trump to intervene in the agencies’ decisions related to Trump Mobile.
While these concerns are all perfectly valid, it’s kind of a weird hill for Dem lawmakers to make a stand on, given the broader problems we face. The Trump administration has utterly eviscerated all regulatory independence and whatever was left of U.S. consumer protection and corporate oversight. And the Democrats already know the answer to the questions they’re asking: nobody in the Trump administration gives two fleeting shits about financial conflicts of interests, corporate oversight, or regulatory autonomy.
The elimination of public safety, labor, consumer protection oversight is going to result in fatalities at scale across countless industries, making problems with Trump’s shitty fake mobile phone company probably the least of our worries. And the Dem lawmakers already know the Trump administration isn’t going to meaningfully regulate themselves or their friends, making this outrage rather… decorative.
So it’s kind of like asking if the hotel you’re staying in is going to change the sheets while the hotel itself is on fire.
That’s not to say this can’t bring some attention to Trump’s self dealing and regulatory capture, and maybe it can form the basis of some legal action. But it might be nice for Dems to embrace more alarming messaging about the dire state of public safety and consumer protection and the disasters waiting over the horizon, especially given the fact that the press doesn’t appear to give much of a shit.
Most Americans are clueless to the level of Trump corruption because most of the press isn’t willing to clearly cover it. Democrats need simple, frightening, brutally repetitive messaging on the basics of that corruption; they probably don’t need to wade into niche oversight problems related to lazy MVNO rebranding deals asking questions they already know the answers to.
Filed Under: branding, corruption, fcc, fda, ftc, oversight, regulators, trump mobile, wireless
Companies: trump mobile, trump organization
