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The Trump Organization launched a gold-colored smartphone Monday that promises American manufacturing but appears to be a rebranded Chinese device sold for nearly triple its original price, according to technology analysts.
The Trump family business announced Trump Mobile, featuring “The 47 Plan” at $47.45 per month and the $499 “T1 Phone” during a Monday event at Trump Tower. Both prices reference Donald Trump as the 47th president.
Tech analyst Max Weinbach identified the T1 as matching the specifications of the T-Mobile REVVL 7 Pro 5G, manufactured by Chinese company Wingtech and owned by Luxshare. That device normally sells for $250 at retail, dropping to $169 on Amazon sales.
The phone claims to be “proudly designed and built in the United States” despite multiple experts questioning this possibility.
“It’s virtually impossible,” said Professor Tinglong Dai, who teaches operations management at Johns Hopkins’ Carey Business School. “You would have to have a miracle. You would need to have economies of scale. You would need to have sustainable demand for this kind of product”.
Eric Trump acknowledged on “The Benny Show” podcast that initial phones might not be made domestically. “Eventually, all the phones can be built in the United States of America,” he said.
The venture operates as a mobile virtual network operator, reselling access to AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile networks. Trump Mobile promises unlimited talk, text, and data with a 20GB high-speed allowance, plus international calling to over 100 countries.
Ethics watchdogs raised concerns about conflicts of interest. “It’s unbelievable that the Trump family has created yet another way for President Trump to personally profit while in office,” said Meghan Faulkner from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
The announcement creates challenges for Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr, who must oversee regulatory matters affecting a network bearing his boss’s name.
Pre-order attempts faced technical problems, with Joseph Cox from 404Media reporting the website charged $64.70 instead of the intended $100 deposit and failed to collect shipping addresses.
Source: Trump Mobile
The T1 features a 6.78-inch AMOLED screen, a 50MP camera, a 5,000mAh battery, and runs Android 15. Notably, it includes a headphone jack, largely abandoned by major manufacturers.
The Trump Organization has licensing deals that generated over $8 million for the president in 2024, according to financial disclosures. The family has previously launched Trump-branded watches, sneakers, and Bibles.
The smartphone launch coincides with Trump’s pressure on Apple CEO Tim Cook to manufacture iPhones domestically, threatening 25% import taxes on foreign-made devices.
Industry analysts remain skeptical about the venture’s viability in a market dominated by major carriers, which control 95% of wireless subscriptions.
