Barron Trump's Yerba Mate Drink Blasted on Social Media, Users Say Family Profiting From Latino Cultural Appropriation

The youngest of President Donald Trump's children, Barron Trump, has become the latest member of the family to face criticism over the 20-year-old's business venture and his decision to invest in Sollos Yerba Mate, a move drawing mixed reactions given his father's aggressive immigration crackdown, particularly targeting people of Latino descent.

Following in his father's footsteps as a business figure, Barron Trump and a group of friends launched a beverage company focused on selling one of Latin America's most iconic caffeinated drinks: yerba mate.

But as noted by the Miami Herald, the company's social media accounts have been flooded with complaints alleging Barron Trump is attempting to profit from cultural appropriation.

"Yerba mate carries real history and survival, and shouldn't be sold by the son of the man who loathes Latinos," one comment on the company's Instagram page reads. "Oh wow, a family tied to anti-Latino rhetoric profiting off something deeply rooted in South American culture," another reads.

In a LinkedIn post from March, Sollos Mate Yerba said its name is inspired by the Spanish word for "sun," and that its products were designed "to complement life in the Sunshine State."

Set to launch in May, Sollos Yerba Mate was incorporated in Florida last December and is headquartered at a 4,500-square-foot property in Palm Beach, near President Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, according to reports.

The company has raised $1 million from private investors, and Barron Trump is listed alongside Spencer Bernstein, Stephen Hall, Rodolfo Castillo and Valentino Gomez in corporate documents as directors. An SEC filing also lists Trump as a director while naming Bernstein, Hall and Gomez as executive officers or related persons connected to the offering.

Reception for the drink is divided among Instagram users. While some say they "cannot wait" for Sollos products to hit shelves next month, others have expressed anger at the idea of a Trump family member profiting from a staple of Latin American culture given the administration's stance on Latinos.

"Crazy how they use a herb grown in Latin America and a drink made by Latin American tribes while simultaneously targeting and discriminating Latin Americans," one comment reads.

Although Sollos Yerba Mate would mark Barron Trump's first venture into the food and beverage industry, he has previous experience launching a company. As reported by Forbes last October, Barron Trump co-founded World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency company, with his father and older brothers a few months before the 2024 election.

Forbes estimates the crypto company generated more than $1.5 billion in profit for the Trump family, with about $150 million attributed to Barron.

Similarly, in July 2024, he briefly incorporated Fulcher Fulcher & Roxburgh Capital Inc., a luxury real estate company, but it was dissolved just four months later after President Trump won the election.

Barron's co-founder, Cameron Roxburgh, told Newsweek at the time that the company was paused to avoid election-related media attention but will eventually focus on high-end real estate projects, including golf courses and properties in Utah, Arizona and Idaho.