Trump Phone Reportedly Costs More, Looks Different, Isn’t Made in America
Trump Mobile executives last month showed off a handset they said was a near-production version of the T1 phone to The Verge. Among other appearance changes, the smartphone had a completely different camera array design than the one still shown on the T1 purchase page.
The Verge said it spoke via video call with two Trump Mobile executives, who held up the phone so it could be seen. The interview follows doubts about whether the phone will ever be released, after its second advertised launch date of the end of 2025 came and went without any status updates.
Trump Mobile has not responded to repeated requests for comment.
The Verge this week also uncovered documentation from the Federal Communications Commission authorizing what appears to be the T1 phone. The FCC documents show that a phone from Smart Gadgets Global — whose CEO is listed as Eric Thomas, a Trump Mobile executive — was certified by the FCC in January. The Smart Gadgets Global website is mostly empty, apart from some stock images of technology. The AI chatbot on the site could not provide any information on the T1 phone. We submitted a question to a human via the chatbot, and are waiting to hear back.
As of March 27, the phone’s web page still lists it as being released “later this year,” which is the same thing it said last year.
Trump Mobile launched in June 2025 with a $47.45-a-month mobile phone plan, and currently sells refurbished Apple and Samsung phones ranging from $369 to $629.
The Trump phone, initially announced to be made in the US, was supposed to launch in August 2025. But when it became obvious that domestic large-scale smartphone manufacturing would not be possible, Trump Mobile dropped the “made in the US” claim. Now, the site simply calls the phone “Proudly American” without specifying what that means for a device manufactured overseas.
The Verge reported in February that sellers were eyeing a March release window. However, despite March now being half over, there’s still no word on the release of the T1 phone.
The website claims it will have a 6.25-inch punch-hole AMOLED screen, a 50-megapixel main rear camera with two 2-megapixel lenses, a 16-megapixel front-facing camera, a 5,000-mAh battery, a fingerprint sensor, face unlock and 256GB of expandable storage.
According to the model that The Verge saw on a video call, however, the screen looks a little larger and has a waterfall display with curved edges, as well as a vertical camera array. That one will reportedly run on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7-series processor, feature 512GB of storage and include a 50-megapixel front-facing camera. According to the report, the T1 logo will also disappear before launch, though the phone will keep the American flag imagery.
The site is still accepting $100 deposits on the phone, which it continues to advertise as being $499 total. However, the phone will now reportedly cost more. Those who have already put down the deposit are locked into the $499 total price, but everyone else who wants this golden Trump phone will pay an unknown amount more. It will be under $1,000, the report says.
According to the Trump Mobile executives speaking to The Verge, the phone has been delayed because the company decided to take its time and skip the “first initial entry-level phone that we were going to kind of introduce and be quick to the market.” They told The Verge it’s being made in a “favored nation” with “final assembly” in Florida. It’s unclear what qualifies another nation as “favored” to handle most of the assembly of the T1 phone.
You can read the full report on The Verge, including photos of the phone as it currently looks.
