Long before the first can hits store shelves, Barron Trump’s yerba mate startup is drowning in controversy. The 20-year-old son of President Trump has become the target of fierce online backlash over Sollos, a beverage brand set to launch in May 2026 that critics say epitomizes cultural appropriation — profiting from Latin American tradition while his father’s administration ramps up deportations targeting Latino immigrants.
The youngest Trump is listed as a director of SOLLOS Yerba Mate Inc., a company that has attracted waves of angry comments on its Instagram page since teasing its pineapple-and-coconut flavored drink. Social media users have seized on what they view as hypocrisy: a Trump family member building a business around a beverage with deep Indigenous South American roots at the same time the White House pursues hardline immigration enforcement.
One Instagram commenter captured the sentiment bluntly: “Nice cultural appropriation…They don’t want Latinos in the U.S. but they want their products. Buy yerba from Latin American countries and do this beverage the natural way!”
Another wrote: “Oh wow, a family tied to anti-Latino rhetoric profiting off something deeply rooted in Indigenous (Guaraní), Paraguayan, and South American culture. Yeah… no!”
Yerba mate is a caffeinated herbal tea native to South America, consumed for centuries by Indigenous Guaraní communities and embedded in Paraguayan culture long before it became trendy stateside as a coffee alternative. The drink’s recent surge in U.S. popularity has made it an attractive market opportunity, but for the Trump family, that opportunity comes with political baggage.
Some social media critics have suggested that given the administration’s policies, the brand “should be called ICE or WHITE.” The pile-on has intensified as launch day nears.
Even the name “Sollos” has drawn fire. According to the company’s marketing materials, the brand derives from “sol,” the Spanish word for sun, with “SOL” representing sunrise and “LOS” — “SOL” backwards — representing sunset, capturing what they call the full solar cycle under the tagline “It Begins Where It Ends.” Critics have dismissed the explanation as a thin veneer over what they see as exploitation of Latino culture.
Barron Trump, currently in his second year at New York University’s Stern School of Business, appears to be charting a commercial rather than political path, following the family’s entrepreneurial instincts. He co-founded Sollos with Spencer Bernstein, Rudolfo Castello, Stephen Hall and Valentino Gomez. Bernstein serves as chairman and chief operating officer, while Hall is vice president.
Both Bernstein and Hall attended Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach with Barron and took breaks from their studies at Villanova University and the University of Notre Dame, respectively, to focus on the venture.
Business filings show the company was incorporated in Delaware last December and registered in Florida shortly after. Securities and Exchange Commission documents dated Jan. 23 indicate Sollos raised $1 million through a private placement and lists at least five partners. The startup is headquartered in Palm Beach, less than a mile from President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, at a 4,500-square-foot property owned by Jay Weitzman.
Weitzman, a longtime Trump associate, campaign donor and former tennis partner whose parking business has held federal contracts since 2005, told Newsweek he holds no ownership stake in or affiliation with Sollos, clarifying that the company is registered at his address only because his grandson, Bernstein, lives with him.
In mid-April, Sollos revealed its debut product through a LinkedIn post: a 12-pack of pineapple-and-coconut yerba mate available for purchase online at sollos.com. Promotional videos showcase light blue cans emblazoned with “SOLLOS” in bold letters over an orange-and-yellow sun graphic moving along production lines. The launch was originally planned for April before being pushed to May.
The company has wrapped itself in South Florida imagery, positioning the drink on LinkedIn as capturing “the vibrant lifestyle of South Florida” and “the perfect summer drink.” The founders wrote that their upbringing in the region shaped their outdoor-oriented lifestyle and inspired a beverage “designed to complement life in the ‘Sunshine State.'”
The market opportunity is substantial. The global energy drink market was valued at approximately $85 billion to $90 billion in 2025 and is projected to grow to more than $125 billion to $157 billion by the early 2030s, depending on the estimate. Yerba mate, marketed as a natural caffeinated alternative to coffee, has become one of the segment’s fastest-growing categories in the U.S.
This isn’t Barron Trump’s first venture. He is listed as a co-founder of World Liberty Financial alongside his father and older brothers Don Jr. and Eric, a cryptocurrency venture with a stake Forbes has estimated at roughly $150 million — though much of that value remains locked in illiquid tokens. He also briefly co-founded a real estate firm in 2024 that was dissolved after his father’s election victory.
Sollos has not publicly responded to the mounting criticism as the brand’s Instagram page continues to attract a steady stream of pointed comments. Whether that sun-drenched branding can survive the political headwinds remains to be seen. With the May launch approaching, the cultural fault lines exposed before the first can has hit shelves may prove harder to navigate than any supply chain.
