This is a really good example of how to not separate business from politics. Trump publicly trashed AT&T over a technical glitch during a conference call, conveniently forgetting to mention that his family just launched a competing wireless service two weeks earlier.
Let’s gauge what’s really happening here. Trump Mobile launched on June 16 with a $499 smartphone and wireless service that accompanies all three major carriers (including AT&T, ironically). Now Trump is using his presidential platform to attack one of those carriers after a routine technical issue. This isn’t presidential leadership. It’s free advertising for the family business.
The conflict of interest is alarming. When the President of the United States publicly criticizes a major corporation, markets react. AT&T’s stock dropped temporarily after his posts which could theoretically benefit competing services like the one bearing his name. Whether intentional or not, Trump just used his office to potentially damage a competitor while promoting his own product.
What makes this particularly problematic is the example it sets. If presidents can attack companies that compete with their personal ventures, where does it end? Every business dispute becomes a potential abuse of power. Every technical glitch becomes grounds for presidential retaliation.
The wider issue is how the Trump Organization continues operating commercial ventures while Trump holds office. Previous presidents typically placed assets in blind trusts or stepped away from business operations to avoid exactly these situations. Trump’s approach creates endless opportunities for conflicts between personal profit and public service. Also Trump Mobile operates ‘over all three major wireless carriers’, meaning it likely depends on AT&T infrastructure even while Trump attacks the company. It’s the business equivalent of biting the hand that feeds you except with nuclear codes and executive power involved.
This incident perfectly captures the challenges of mixing presidential authority with family business interests. Technical problems happen to everyone but most people don’t have Truth Social accounts followed by millions and the power to move markets with angry posts.
“AT&T obviously doesn’t know what they’re doing!”