The Trump family announced a new cellular company, Trump Mobile. Alongside the new cell service company, Trump Mobile unveiled its first smartphone, a $500 gilded handheld that makes some strange, unrealistic promises.
The Trump Mobile T1 Phone (T1 Phone 8002 gold version, specifically) costs $499 and has some pretty standard specifications. The device features a 6.8-inch AMOLED screen with a punch hole for its front-facing camera, a triple camera array (allegedly), and a flashy gold aesthetic complete with a large American flag on its rear panel.
The official website claims that the device has 256GB of internal storage, expandable with a “card slot” of some kind, 12GB of RAM, an under-the-screen fingerprint reader plus “AI Face Unlock,” a 50-megapixel main camera, a 16-megapixel selfie camera, and a 5,000mAh battery with 20-watt fast charging. The phone features a USB Type-C port (USB 2.0) and a 3.5mm headphone jack. As for its operating system, the device will run Android 15, not the newly released Android 16. An earlier version of the product page listed the battery as a “5000mAh long life camera,” which makes little sense.
There are other parts of the specifications that are confusing, including those related to the phone’s camera system. The Trump Mobile T1 product renders, complete with the clock on the front showing Trump’s inauguration date, shows a triple camera array on the phone’s rear. However, while the 50-megapixel main camera claim is easy to believe, the other two rear camera specs are puzzling. The official product page states that the phone features a 2-megapixel depth sensor and a 2-megapixel macro lens. If these are the two other cameras on the back of the device, that would be pretty strange. Typically, a macro capability is built into a higher-resolution ultrawide camera, and a depth sensor is part of a different camera module, not its own thing.
Granted, the actual product photos look clearly to be renders rather than actual shots of a real device, and the specs list is incomplete, so the final device could look different and have camera features that make much more sense.
In the official unveiling today, Donald Trump Jr. claimed that Trump Mobile is designed to provide underserved people with powerful new technology, including telemedicine services, roadside assistance, unlimited texting, and more.
“I’m incredibly excited to step into this new digital space, hard-working Americans deserve a wireless service that’s affordable, reflects their values, and delivers reliable quality they can count on,” says Eric Trump, EVP of The Trump Organization. “We’re especially proud to offer free long-distance calling to our military members and their families — because those serving overseas should always be able to stay connected to the people they love back home.”
To that end, the Trump Mobile T1 Phone works alongside a new Trump Mobile, “The 47 Plan,” which is $47.45 monthly and promises the “same coverage as the three nationwide phone service carriers.” While the plan promises unlimited talk, text, and data, the plan will throttle speeds beyond 20GB of data, per Engadget. The Trump Mobile plan builds upon an existing network operator, Liberty Mobile, which has the clever tagline, “Let freedom ring.”
Sketchy product renderings and specs aside, perhaps the most impressive (or hard to believe) aspect of the T1 Phone 8002 (Gold Version) is the claim that it is made in the United States. A $499 Android 15-running smartphone made in the U.S. seems impossible.
“It seems utterly unfathomable that you could build a phone with this set of specs, at this price, to be delivered in September,” The Verge writes. “Either Trump Mobile has done something truly remarkable here (and I’d bet you a T1 Phone 8002 that it hasn’t), or the phone it ends up shipping will not be the one buyers are expecting.”
While the Trump Mobile website clearly states the T1 Phone is “made in the USA,” The Trump Organization’s press release sings a different tune. The T1 Phone is described as follows: “It is a sleek, gold smartphone engineered for performance and proudly designed and built in the United States for customers who expect the best from their mobile carrier.” Made, engineered, and designed are all different.
Further, as Associated Press reports, the Trump Mobile T1 Phone is actually not designed or made by Trump Mobile itself, but by another undisclosed company. It is all quite confusing.
404 Media tried to buy the phone, describing the attempt as “the worst experience I’ve ever faced buying a consumer electronic product and I have no idea whether or how I’ll receive the phone.”
Pricing and Availability
The Trump Mobile T1 Phone is scheduled to ship in August and is available to preorder now with a $100 down payment.
Image credits: Trump Mobile
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