


The Trump family’s newest venture highlights a “made in the USA” cellphone, though there are questions as to whether the parts being used to manufacture the device could be coming from China or other foreign countries.
During Trump Mobile’s official reveal on Monday, a gold-plated “T1 Phone” was featured online, which is retailing for $499 and runs off an Android 15 operating system. A spokesperson at Trump Mobile has confirmed to the Washington Examiner earlier this week that the phone will be “assembled” in Florida, California, and Alabama.
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The phone’s price has raised some questions about its assemblage, with accusations that it will actually be “a rebranded Chinese Android phone.”
“I think they are assuming people will pay money for a Trump-branded service and bring their own phone, because people have phones now, and then what they are going to sell is the T1 Model 8002, which is what they will tell you it’s called if you call them, is undoubtedly a rebranded Chinese Android phone,” technology news site The Verge’s editor-in-chief Nilay Patel told CNBC. “That is the only way you can get to $499 with the specs they’re offering.”
Patel claimed the phone’s specifications “match” those of an Android phone, and that in order to compete with industry leaders like Samsung, “existing manufacturing” must be used. He added that it is expensive to begin mass producing phones, and that “there’s no way” this can be accomplished at a pricepoint of $499.
The phone’s parts, according to the Trump Mobile website, include a display of a 6.8” Punch-Hole AMOLED screen, an acronym for Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode. These displays are typically made by South Korean firms LG and Samsung, as well as Chinese firm BOE.
Shortly after the reveal of the phone, Max Weinbach, an analyst with the silicon valley based Creative Strategies research firm, wrote on X that the T1 Phone shares the “same body” as T-Mobile’s REVVL 7 Pro 5G made by Wingtech. That is owned by Chinese manufacturer Luxshare.
Eric Trump said the company’s customer service call center will be based in St. Louis, Missouri. Following the event, Trump stated that “eventually all the phones can be built in the United States.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to the Trump organization a second time for clarification on where the parts to manufacture the the phone originate.
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The T1 Phone is scheduled to be released later this year.
Trump Mobile’s reveal comes after President Donald Trump threatened Apple and Samsung with 25% tariffs if they don’t start manufacturing their phones in the U.S. The president directed attention to Apple CEO Tim Cook that his company would receive this tariff if it continued manufacturing its cellphones in India, extending this warning to Samsung.