A 20-year-old college student launching an energy drink startup would typically fly under the radar, but when that student is Barron Trump, the president’s youngest son, nothing stays quiet for long. His yerba mate company, Sollos, is facing fierce backlash on social media, with critics accusing him of cultural appropriation for profiting from a Latin American beverage while his father’s administration ramps up deportations targeting Latino communities.
Instagram users have flooded the brand’s social media accounts with critical comments since the product was teased publicly.
“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!” one Instagram user wrote.
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!”
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. Some commenters have joked that given the administration’s stance, the brand “should be called ICE or WHITE.” The pile-on has intensified as the May launch date approaches.
Backlash has also spread to Reddit’s r/yerbamate forum, where yerba mate enthusiasts have been equally dismissive. “I have yet to have a taste, but already have a bad taste in my mouth,” one user wrote. Another posted: “The gringos don’t understand **** from outside their country. Want to corrupt everything into a fast food model, without understanding the essence of anything.”
The brand’s name has sparked controversy. “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.”
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.
Barron, who is listed as a director of SOLLOS Yerba Mate Inc., currently attends New York University’s Stern School of Business in his second year — a signal that the youngest Trump son intends to follow the family’s business trajectory rather than its political one. His partners, Bernstein and Hall, are high school friends 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.”
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 said 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.
The company has leaned hard into its South Florida identity in its messaging. On LinkedIn, the brand positions itself as capturing “the vibrant lifestyle of South Florida” and “the perfect summer drink.” In a statement on its page, 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 available for purchase online at sollos.com. In a statement to Newsweek, a company spokesperson said the brand intentionally chose to perfect one recipe rather than launch multiple options: “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.” 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.
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.
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 Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, 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 that sun-drenched branding can survive the political headwinds remains to be seen. With the May launch approaching, Sollos has not publicly responded to the mounting criticism, and the brand’s Instagram page continues to attract pointed comments.
In a bid to build credibility with its target demographic, Sollos has partnered with professional surfer Kepa Mendia ahead of the launch. 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.