Barron and Kai Trump used to play soccer in the White House — now they're energy drink entrepreneurs. But will Gen Z buy what they're selling?

The young Trumps — who grew up playing soccer and hide-and-seek together around the White House — both dove into the energy drink market this year, with the 20-year-old presidential son launching his Sollos brand — that of the “creamy mouthfeel” — in May. Kai, a 19-year-old aspiring pro golfer and presidential granddaughter, inked a brand ambassador and equity partner deal with Accelerator and introduced her own flavor, Blue Raz Slush, in June.

The prolifically promotional president, however, has said little about either — leaving one to speculate what he thinks of Kai creating a Democrat-blue drink instead of a Republican-red one.

Perhaps that’s for the best, though. As Gen Z voters sour on the president, uncle and niece are attempting to find footing for their own personal brands.

“I think both of them are already taking steps to establish identities beyond their family name,” Robin Dimond, founder and CEO of Florida-based marketing company Fifth & Cor, told Moneywise. “The key will be giving younger consumers enough reasons to understand who they are individually, rather than allowing the Trump name to define their brands for them.”

Two different approaches to cashing in on Gen Z’s energy drink obsession

The foray into the booming energy drink market, which Ernst & Young says fuels more than half of Gen Z Americans and nearly the same for Millennials, feels like a no-brainer, despite Barron and Kai taking starkly different approaches.

Barron inherited his father’s looks and his mother, Melania’s, “I don’t really care, do you?” stoic gaze, but eschewed the Trumpian limelight lust to create Sollos with four other college-age friends behind closed doors.

They positioned it as born out of a cabana for thirsty Floridians craving a refreshing drink “after a surf session, energizing enough to carry you through a tennis set, and crafted with organic ingredients.” And they priced it at $39 for a 12-pack, which drew blowback from many non-cabana-based consumers.

Kai, meanwhile, took a different tact with her Accelerator Blue Raz Slush. While, unlike Sollos, the Trump name appears on the can, its origin story — a sugar-free energy drink for the busy Gen Zer — feels more relatable, as does the 12-pack $25 price tag. And her golf career and millions of social media followers offer her a more public-facing presence to sell it.

“Kai seems to be doing most everything right currently,” Annie Moore, co-founder and managing partner of strategic advisory firm Imperio Chaos, told Moneywise. “By focusing on golf and just life as a teenager, she's been able to establish herself almost as a normal — albeit a nepo baby — influencer/athlete.”

Barron, she added, “was the mastermind behind the 2024 Trump campaign's foray into new media” and “will likely lean into that approach of using media to move the brand forward.”

Dimond, meanwhile, sees the influence of older Trumps in both Gen Zers. Barron is “arguably more reminiscent of his grandfather, Fred Trump, than his father,” she says, in that his approach “seems much more operator-driven than personality-driven.”

Kai, by contrast, “feels closer to what we’ve seen from [her dad] Donald Trump Jr. and especially Ivanka Trump: building an identity that benefits from the family name but can also stand on its own.”

Both Dimond and Moore also dismiss whispers of a familial competition between the two, noting their identities and brands differ greatly. But Dimond added that “the overlap could actually work in their favor” for possible future collaborations that raise both profiles.

Moneywise reached out to representatives for Barron and Kai Trump, as well as their energy drink companies and business partners, but didn’t immediately hear back.

Can Barron and Kai sell energy drinks without selling the Trump brand?

Both Trump energy drinks appear decently poised in a projected $38 billion market (by 2030) currently ruled by brands like Monster and Red Bull.

Yerba mate, the South American naturally-caffinated beverage found in Sollos, is reportedly set for its own $3.5 billion global market explosion — though critics slammed the use of it and Sollos’ Spanish-inspired name while Trump anti-immigrant policies impact Latinos.

Accelerator, meanwhile, also counts superstar athletes like the Kansas City Chiefs’ Travis Kelce and Lindsey Horan, captain of the women's national soccer team, among their brand ambassadors, offering the company added cultural cred.

But whether Barron and Kai will see success marketing to a Gen Z audience that’s increasingly antagonistic to the family’s politics is another question.