A Rhode Island couple paid £504 ($640) for a limited-edition Trump watch and received what is now being called, without irony, a 'Rump watch.'
Tim and Melanie Petit of Middletown, Rhode Island, ordered the pink 'Inauguration First Lady' model from GetTrumpWatches.com after hearing a radio advertisement featuring President Donald Trump's voice. When the package arrived, Melanie noticed the error straight away. The letter T was absent from the watch face, leaving the word RUMP printed across it.
The couple's frustration, captured on camera by local NBC affiliate WJAR (NBC 10), has since drawn national attention to a line of licensed merchandise that critics say blurs the line between presidential branding and consumer accountability.
The 'Rump' Watch
Tim Petit told WJAR he was drawn in by a radio advertisement featuring Trump's voice and by the watch's billing as 'one of 250' produced. 'I just thought it was really nice. It was beautiful. And I knew it would be something that she'd like,' he told the station. The pink timepiece came in a decorative case with fireworks imagery and was marketed as a luxury, limited-edition collector's item.
Melanie spotted the defect the moment she opened the box. 'The T is missing. It just says R-U-M-P,' she said, according to the WJAR report. She was reportedly in tears. 'How could they process this and go through something without checking their work?' she asked. Tim followed up with a pointed demand: 'An apology would be nice for making my wife cry.'
The couple attempted to contact GetTrumpWatches.com directly but initially received no satisfactory response. It was only after WJAR's reporter Brian Crandall sent multiple emails to the company on their behalf that the company called to apologise.
Donald Trump has scammed his supporters again.
— Mukhtar (@I_amMukhtar) May 30, 2026
He sold them a Trump watch with the T missing for $640. pic.twitter.com/ZB3Kni1OsM
A replacement watch was subsequently dispatched, and Melanie confirmed she was satisfied with the corrected item. The company also issued the couple an £630 ($800) coupon, according to subsequent reporting.
Licensed, Not Presidential
The site markets its products as the 'official watches of President Trump,' but a disclaimer buried in its small print tells a different story. GetTrumpWatches.com states that its timepieces are 'not designed, manufactured, distributed, or sold by Donald J. Trump, the Trump Organization, or any of their respective affiliates or principals.' The watches are produced by TheBestWatchesonEarth LLC, a Wyoming-registered company that holds a paid licensing agreement for Trump's name, image and likeness.
The site also notes that the watches 'have nothing to do with any political campaign.' That disclaimer sits in uncomfortable contrast with the Newsmax advertisements, in which Trump himself appears on screen.
'Hello, everyone, it's President Donald J. Trump, and it's Trump time,' he says in one clip, promoting the red 'Fight, Fight, Fight' collection. 'Wear it proudly on your wrist and everyone will know exactly what it's for, who it's for, who it represents. Get your watch today at GetTrumpWatches.com. These make a great gift,' he continues, per a Mediaite report on the Newsmax ads.
Prices across the range run from £394 ($499) to £630 ($799) for the 'Fight, Fight, Fight' collection, while a now-discontinued model was listed at £78,740 ($100,000) and advertised as being almost entirely crafted from 18-carat gold and set with 122 diamonds. The cheapest timepieces use a TMI NH35 movement mechanism, which is widely regarded as a reliable but affordable component in watch-making circles.
Branded Merchandise Under Scrutiny
The Rump watch incident is not an isolated story. Trump's broader portfolio of licensed merchandise has faced repeated questions over quality control and fulfilment. The Trump Mobile T1 smartphone, a gold-coloured Android handset priced at £394 ($499) and unveiled by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. in June 2025, was originally advertised as 'MADE IN THE USA.' That language was later removed from the company's website, which now says the phone was 'designed with American values in mind.' Its box states it was 'assembled in the USA,' a claim CNET's reviewer noted could plausibly mean no more than the device being placed into its packaging on American soil.
Customers who paid a £79 ($100) deposit for pre-orders waited months beyond the original August 2025 launch date. The company blamed the delay in part on the US government shutdown, a justification that Reuters and Fortune both reported on. CNET's performance testing subsequently found the handset to be functionally identical to the HTC U24 Pro 5G, a mid-range Taiwanese device that retails for roughly £100 to £118 ($125 to $150). Trump Mobile declined to disclose the phone's processor, Android update policies, or security patch timelines.
The watch line itself has drawn earlier complaints beyond the Petit family's experience, including reports of customers receiving inaccurate products or receiving no response from the company at all. California Governor Gavin Newsom publicly mocked the Newsmax watch advertisements in all-caps on X: 'NO HEALTH CARE FOR YOU BUT YOU MUST BUY MY WATCH!!'
The post arrived during a period when the US federal government remained deadlocked in a shutdown.
