The curious hunt for the company behind Trump watches

Wearing his signature blue suit and red tie, Donald Trump appears presidential as he sits behind a dark wood desk and signs an official-looking document.

Just then, a glimmer of gold sparkle swirls around his wrist. The special effect is intended to call attention to the purpose of the former president’s appearance in the brief promotional video: He’s selling watches.

And not just any watch. These limited-edition timepieces are “designed for the President” and bear the Trump name. A website boasts of the brand’s “Swiss-made power and precision,” and one model has a six-figure price tag.

But a CNN investigation into the manufacturing and distribution of the Trump-branded timepieces dead-ended at an innocuous-looking shopping center in a small city in remote northern Wyoming, not far from the border of Montana.

There, sharing a parking lot with a hodgepodge of businesses including an H&R Block, a Wendy’s fast-food restaurant and a “vape and hemp smoke shop,” is a nondescript office space that serves as the mailing address for TheBestWatchesOnEarth LLC, the company behind the new line of Trump watches. The building houses a daycare, but there is no sign of the watches Trump says, “puts you in a very exclusive club.”

Little is known or discoverable about the company now working with the Republican nominee for president, including the person or persons behind it. The lack of public details about Trump’s new business partner are a feature of where and how the limited liability corporation was created. And like other ventures Trump has launched while running for president, these watches are the result of an opaque arrangement prompting questions his campaign hasn’t answered and which couldn’t be resolved even by knocking on the door of the business’ listed address.

CNN found dozens of other companies that claim the address as their own, too, including a separate limited liability corporation selling Trump-themed sneakers through a licensing agreement with the former president. Some are as far flung as a Washington, DC, lobbying firm that represents the government of Montenegro, while others have left little trace of their whereabouts.

Another company linked to the address has a name that is evocative of TheBestWatchesOnEarth LLC. It’s registered to the same address as Kingdom Honey LLC, which also goes by TheBestHoneyOnEarth on its online retail store, the Royal Honey Shop. There it sells “Male Enhancement Honey” products – some of which the Food and Drug Administration has warned people not to consume after it found they contained the erectile dysfunction drug used in Viagra.

The FDA cautioned these supposed “natural” nectars could adversely interact with other prescriptions or cause significant health risks to people with diabetes and heart conditions. Besides that, the FDA wrote in 2022, “there is no medical proof that consuming this type of honey with herbs will provide any sexual enhancement or other claimed benefits.”

CNN was unable to find documentation of a direct link between the honey company and Trump. Reached by email, a spokesperson for the honey seller, Vladimir Dmitriev, called it “a highly reputable company,” but declined to respond to a list of questions. Though none of the questions mentioned Trump, Dmitriev told CNN, “We’ve received direction from our leadership in the US not to engage with any news agencies (specifically CNN) until after November 5th,” which is Election Day.

Asked in a follow up email if the company had any business ties to Trump, the company responded that it “cannot provide any information or details at this time.”

All of these corporations share the same “organizer,” Andrew Pierce, whose company serves as the registered agent and as the gatekeeper for more details about the business Trump is promoting in the final weeks of his third White House bid.

A representative at Pierce’s office in Sheridan, Wyoming, told CNN he spends most of his time at the company’s headquarters in Puerto Rico. Carol Mendelsohn, chief marketing officer for Pierce’s company, confirmed in an email that they are the registered agents for the Trump-related companies. But she said they have formed over 100,000 businesses around the world and had no direct involvement in their operations.

“To be absolutely clear, registered agents do not bear any responsibility for the actions of their clients and we will not respond to any further communication via email or phone about these companies,” she wrote.

Pierce’s father and business partner, attorney Mark Pierce, said in a telephone interview he was unaware that two of their clients were in business with the former president until contacted by CNN .

While the elder Pierce defended the rights of his clients, including the makers of Trump watches and sneakers, to keep their details private, he said the former president’s track record as a businessman should lead to caution for those interested in purchasing a product he sells.

“Before spending $100,000 on a watch, they should know who they’re buying it from,” he said.

Neither Trump’s campaign nor the Trump Organization responded to a detailed list of questions from CNN about his partnership with TheBestWatchesOnEarth, including who is behind the company, how the deal came to pass and whether he vetted the people behind his new business venture.

Attempts to reach TheBestWatchesOnEarth through its website generated an automatic reply: “Please note that we may have received a large number of requests and, may take additional time to provide you with a response.”

As a Manhattan developer with considerable star power, Trump has long cashed in on his fame through licensing agreements. Dozens of deals over the years have resulted in products ranging from Trump Vodka and Trump Steaks to giant skyscrapers emblazoned with his surname. Many debuted well before he launched a political career and most went defunct ahead of his inauguration in 2017.

However, Trump has entered into a flurry of new licensing deals after leaving the White House and while attempting a political comeback, an unparalleled use of a presidential candidate’s name, image and likeness — not to mention time — while seeking the country’s highest office.

The arrangements have netted him millions of dollars, according to financial disclosure documents his campaign submitted earlier this summer. Several of those deals trace back to Wyoming, a state that allows business owners to shield their identities behind a registered agent, a term for someone who can handle a company’s government, tax and legal correspondence.

For example, Trump last year made $7.2 million through a licensing deal with NFT International, LLC, a company that is selling Trump digital NFT, or non-fungible token, “trading cards” and is registered in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

When Trump unveiled a line of shoes earlier this year at a Philadelphia gathering of sneaker aficionados, it turned out to be another licensing deal, this one with 45footwear LLC, a corporation registered by Pierce in Wyoming as well. Attempts to reach 45footwear through an email on its website were unsuccessful.

Trump has regularly plugged these products on the same social media accounts where he shares political messaging with his followers, often with infomercial-style videos shot at Mar-a-Lago with a backdrop that he also uses for campaign announcements.

That was the case last month when Trump, in a Truth Social post 40 days before the election, shared a new line of watches. The timepieces retail starting at $499, but one series – Tourbillon – is priced at $100,000. They come in three different colors and are limited in number to 147.

“You’re going to love them,” Trump wrote. “Would make a great Christmas Gift.”

Within some corners of the niche luxury watch community, Trump’s entry is already a bit of a punchline. The first purchases will ship in October, the company says, but promotional pictures and videos of it circulated widely online. Oisín O’Malley, a prominent watch reviewer whose YouTube videos regularly exceed 100,000 views, called the gold-plated $800 line “cheap stuff” and said the pricier model appeared “basic” for its cost while asserting it “looks like it was designed on a computer.”

In his more earnest attempt to review the product on his YouTube channel, Tim Mosso, a specialist for the online luxury watch marketplace 1916 Project, found it “a little bit ominous” that the $100,000 model can’t go near water while wondering why the website doesn’t list basic information such as the product’s size. He speculated that just a handful of the most expensive models will end up getting made.

“It’s definitely an acquired taste,” Mosso told his 160,000 subscribers.

The Trump Watches website is, in fact, peppered with disclaimers. While it advertises the watches were “Designed to embody President Trump’s fighting spirit,” it states in smaller print that the products were “not designed, manufactured, distributed or sold by Donald J. Trump, The Trump Organization or any of their respective affiliates or principals.” Another disclaimer makes clear that sales of the watches will not benefit Trump’s political campaign. The online store for Trump Sneakers carries similar language.

The watch website also discloses that the timepieces that appear in the promotional images and videos are for “illustrative purposes” and may not look like the ones that are ultimately delivered to customers.

There are few other public details available about the watch company that is now doing business with the former – and perhaps future – President of the United States. According to business filings, TheBestWatchesOnEarth was registered by Pierce in Wyoming on July 29 – less than two months before Trump first introduced the line with a social media post.

Pierce’s companies, including Wyoming LLC Attorney and Cloud Peak Law, promise to help their clients keep certain details hidden.

“We specialize in creating anonymous LLCs to shield your personal information from public eyes,” the website for Wyoming LLC Attorney says.

Wyoming LLC Attorney can help launch a new LLC within 24 hours, it advertises. The website also includes a disclaimer that, despite its name, it’s not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.

The two business share a building. One entrance bears no sign but on a recent visit was adorned with a decorative orange skeleton. An office manager explained that the company rents out space to a daycare operator and a county-run social services program.

Documents from the Wyoming Secretary of State list the small office building in the shopping center as the “principal business address” for dozens of companies, including the Trump aligned businesses, though they have no apparent physical presence there.

One Wyoming resident unsuccessfully tried to sue Pierce in 2022 over some allegedly faulty gold pieces sold by a corporation Pierce registered in the state. Pierce’s lawyer wrote in a court filing that his client resided in Puerto Rico, and “has no significant ties to the state of Wyoming.” The case against him was dismissed.

But the customer was later awarded a default judgment against the company that sold him the jewelry, court records show. The customer said in a court filing that he tried calling the seller repeatedly but was “hung up on” and that the seller’s address “is unknown and cannot with reasonable diligence be ascertained.” The seller failed to show up for the hearing, resulting in the judgment in the customer’s favor.

Mark Pierce characterized the registered agent’s role in Wyoming as limited. He said the Wyoming Secretary of State or other authorities can request additional records and information they keep on file about the businesses they register, but added that rarely happens.

He suggested, though, that consumers should be “more wary” of a product tied to the Trump name and left little doubt how he viewed the former president.

“If Mr. Trump or anyone in his family were on the same side of the street I was on,” Pierce said, “I would cross the street.”