A Rhode Island couple’s attempt to own a piece of presidential history turned into a costly lesson in buyer beware after a Trump-branded watch arrived at their door bearing a humiliating manufacturing defect.
Tim Petit, a resident of Middletown, Rhode Island, pulled out his wallet after a radio advertisement stopped him in his tracks — one featuring an unmistakable voice.
President Donald Trump’s voice filled the airwaves promoting luxury timepieces through GetTrumpWatches.com, and Petit decided to visit the site.
Once there, he zeroed in on a pink watch adorned with Trump’s signature and fireworks imagery — the kind of collector’s piece he believed his wife, Melania, would treasure.
He paid $640 for it without hesitation.
The watch carried added appeal beyond its appearance. It was marketed as a limited-edition product, with only 250 units reportedly produced, making the purchase feel exclusive and significant to supporters of the president.
The package arrived. Melanie opened it. And then came the tears.
The watch face, which was supposed to carry the president’s surname, was missing its first letter entirely. Rather than reading “TRUMP,” it read “RUMP.”
“I noticed it right away,” Melanie said. “How could they process this and go through something without checking their work?”
Her husband did not hold back his frustration either, calling the defect a failure of basic standards.
“I’m very disappointed. I wanted to do a special thing for her. And we expected that it would have the integrity of the President of the United States and good follow-through,” Tim told WJAR.
The couple turned to the company for help, expecting a swift resolution. Instead, their messages disappeared into silence. No response came.
Days passed without any word from the watchmaker, leaving the Petits without a corrected product, without an apology, and without any path forward under the company’s own policies — which state that all sales are final.
Tim made their demands plain. “We would like this corrected properly and quickly. [And] an apology would be nice for making my wife cry,” he told the outlet.
The couple eventually took their story to local NBC affiliate WJAR. Within hours of the station contacting the company, the silence broke.
The watchmaker extended an $800 store credit and an apology, along with a replacement watch — this time bearing the president’s correctly spelled surname.
However, the store credit came with a significant limitation. It was not a cash refund or a transferable gift card. It functioned solely as credit toward another purchase on the same platform that had shipped the defective product.
Comparable women’s watches on the site carried price tags of $899, meaning the Petits would still need to spend an additional $99 out of pocket to acquire a replacement of similar value — even after receiving the $800 offer.
The company’s promotional materials lean heavily on the president’s identity.
A video on the website opens with Trump standing before American flags, declaring: “Hello everyone, it’s President Donald J. Trump, and it’s Trump Time.” He follows with: “Get your watch today!”
Despite that branding, GetTrumpWatches.com holds no official connection to the Trump Administration.
Fine print on the website discloses that the company operates under a paid license from CIC Digital LLC and is “not designed, owned, managed, or controlled by Donald J Trump, The Trump Organization, CIC Digital LLC, or any of their respective principals or affiliates.”
The Daily Mail has reached out to the Petits, the company, and the White House for comment.
