Before Barron Trump’s yerba mate company, Sollos, has even shipped its first can, the venture has become engulfed in a fierce online backlash over cultural appropriation. Critics have flooded the brand’s social media with accusations that the 20-year-old is profiting from Indigenous South American traditions while his father’s administration ramps up deportations targeting Latino immigrants.
Instagram Erupts With Criticism
After Sollos teased its pineapple-and-coconut debut flavor on social media, the company’s Instagram page has been flooded with critical comments calling out what users see as hypocrisy. Yerba mate is a caffeinated herbal tea native to South America with deep ties to Indigenous Guaraní and Paraguayan culture, consumed on the continent for centuries before its recent rise in popularity in the U.S. as an alternative to coffee.
Another pointed specifically at the cultural weight of the drink: “Oh wow, a family tied to anti-Latino rhetoric profiting off something deeply rooted in Indigenous (Guaraní), Paraguayan, and South American culture. Yeah… no!”
Other commenters have echoed similar themes, with some joking that given the administration’s stance, the brand “should be called ICE or WHITE.” Not all reactions have been critical, however. Elon Musk commented on the brand’s Instagram page, praising the can design as “beautiful,” and reacted to an earlier promotional video with “can’t wait.” The pile-on has intensified as the May launch date approaches.
Florida Company With High-Level Connections
State business filings and Securities and Exchange Commission documents dated Jan. 23 show that Sollos Yerba Mate was incorporated in Delaware last December and subsequently registered in Florida. The company, headquartered less than a mile from President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, has raised $1 million through a private placement and lists at least five partners, including Barron Trump, Spencer Bernstein, Rudolfo Castello, Stephen Hall and Valentino Gomez. Bernstein serves as chairman and chief operating officer, while Hall holds the vice president title.
The 4,500-square-foot Palm Beach property where Sollos is registered is owned by Jay Weitzman, a longtime associate, campaign donor and former tennis partner of President Trump, whose parking business has held federal contracts since 2005. Weitzman 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.
Bernstein and Hall are high school friends of Barron from their days together at Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach. Both paused their studies at Villanova University and the University of Notre Dame, respectively, to focus on the venture with what they described on LinkedIn as “a few close friends.” Barron is in his second year at New York University’s Stern School of Business, suggesting the youngest Trump son intends to follow the family’s business trajectory rather than its political one.
Sun-Themed Branding and Product Launch
The brand name itself has become a lightning rod. “Sollos” is derived from the Spanish word “sol,” meaning sun. In marketing materials, the company explains that “SOL” represents sunrise, while “LOS” — “SOL” spelled backwards — represents sunset, capturing what the brand calls the full cycle of the sun with the tagline “It Begins Where It Ends.”
On LinkedIn, the brand positions itself as capturing “the vibrant lifestyle of South Florida” and “the perfect summer drink.” The founders wrote that growing up in South Florida shaped their outdoor-oriented lifestyle and inspired the creation of a beverage “designed to complement life in the ‘Sunshine State.'”
In mid-April, the brand revealed its debut flavor — a single pineapple-and-coconut blend — in a LinkedIn post announcing a 12-pack that will be available for purchase online at sollos.com. Promotional videos show light blue cans featuring “SOLLOS” in bold lettering over an orange-and-yellow sun graphic rolling through production lines. The launch was originally planned for April before being pushed to May.
Latest Trump Family Business Venture
For Barron Trump, Sollos represents his latest business move. 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.
Whether the sun-drenched branding can survive the political headwinds remains uncertain. With the May launch approaching, Sollos has not directly addressed the mounting criticism, though the company told Newsweek it intentionally launched with a single recipe: “We didn’t set out to make a flavor lineup; we set out to make the perfect drink. Most brands launch with five flavors, hoping you’ll like one of them. We spent all of our time, energy, and resources obsessing over a single recipe until it was flawless,” and the brand’s Instagram page continues to attract a steady stream of pointed comments. For a startup hoping to ride the yerba mate wave to mainstream success, the cultural fault lines exposed before the first can hits shelves may prove harder to navigate than any supply chain.