Trump Mobile's made-in-US iPhone 17 competitor is really made in China
The Trump Organization has launched Trump Mobile and plans to release the T1, a smartphone that it says is "made in USA" at the same time that the iPhone 17 will launch. The problem is, the phone was made in China.
Trump takes on Cook with the T1
Marking ten years after the launch of President Donald Trump's original presidential campaign, the Trump Organization has decided to launch its own mobile phone network. Dubbed Trump Mobile, it is a network that is being promoted as an All-American service," and heavily leaning on the Trump brand.
Trump Mobile frames itself as a "next-generation wireless provider," with mentions of it delivering "top-tier connectivity" and "unbeatable value." All with a "customer-first" approach and an "all-American service."
This includes U.S. call centers, extensive services as part of the plan, and a new smartphone, the T1.
While the launch of a new mobile phone network will certainly draw an audience of Trump followers, it feels more like a cash-in on the Trump brand rather than a real attempt to take on the U.S. mobile market.
The Trump Mobile offering falls into two main offerings, consisting of the phone plan itself and the smartphone. Neither look particularly great from a consumer point of view.
And that smartphone that the Trump organization claims is made in the US, is a cheap Chinese android device, that they are tripling the Amazon price of, slapping on new plastic, and calling it a day.
The 47 Plan
The 47 Plan, named after the fact that Trump is the 47th President of the U.S., is the main offering for the network. While it does offer a smartphone for sale, the bread and butter for a carrier is the service.
Trump Mobile is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). It will likely work on three major U.S. carriers, leveraging the 5G networks and coverage of AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile.
What it is not, is a new network. It resells AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile network access.
The $47.45 per month, clearly another presidential number reference, is a fairly high price for a mobile service. But, there are promises of it going far beyond the typical cellular service.
Trump Mobile says it will provide unlimited talk, texts, and data, with the first 20GB offered at "high speed." These are very common features of modern-day phone plans.
The free international calling to over 100 countries is framed as a benefit for families who regularly call American military bases.
Trump Mobile SIM pack - Image Credit: Trump Mobile
Going into the realm of extended services, Trump Mobile also touts "Device Protection," but stops short of saying what it is, save for it not being insurance. It is being handled by a third-party provider, but again Trump Mobile doesn't say what that would be.
There is also included roadside assistance provided by Drive America. There's also telehealth and prescription services, again handled by third-party providers.
This is a lot for Trump to offer as part of a mobile plan, and at face value it could justify the monthly fee. However, the extra services may cause users to incur fees if they use them beyond a basic level. There is a complete lack of disclosure on the website about additional fees, so it's hard to tell how much, or how often.
The site does say that you can bring your own phone over to the network, with a SIM card supplied by the company. It is unclear if eSIMs are being supported.
Since current-gen iPhones don't have a SIM card slot and rely on eSIM support with networks, this could rule out Apple users until that support is added.
At the time of reporting, Trump Mobile is not listed on Apple's eSIM support page.
T1 takes on iPhone 17, maybe
The constant calls and pressure from the administration of President Donald Trump for Apple to make its iPhone in the United States are well documented. It's therefore apt that Trump Mobile will be offering its own smartphone to consumers as well.
The T1 is described in the Trump Mobile press release as a device that is "designed and built in the United States." This nationalistic claim is also a shot against Apple, which often uses the phrase "Designed by Apple in California," followed by a statement about the phones being assembled in India or China in most cases.
Clad in a gold-colored casing, the T1 is said to have a 6.8-inch Punch-Hole AMOLED display, with an under-screen fingerprint sensor and an "AI Face Unlock."
All of these parts will need to be imported for the phone. There are no domestic AMOLED display manufacturers, and the VCSEL used for face unlock technologies is also produced overseas.
Trump Mobile T1 - Image Credit: Trump Mobile
Running on Android 15, it is listed as having 256GB of internal storage, expandable by a memory card slot, and 12GB of memory.
On the back are a 50MP main camera but surprisingly low-resolution depth and macro cameras at 2MP, but the front has a 16MP selfie camera. The camera modules will have to be imported too for any kind of US manufacture.
Battery capacity is said to be a generous 5,000mAh, charged using USB-C with 20W of fast charging. That USB Type-C port is also limited to slow USB 2.0 speeds, and is joined by a 3.5mm headphone jack. These are typical for the price point.
The T1 is also seemingly going to be an attempt to spoil the September launch of the iPhone 17 range, with Trump Mobile planning to ship it by August.
The price of $499 with a $100 down payment for pre orders, makes it a mid-range device price-wise. The Amazon sale price on the device is about $180.
A reskinned import?
While there is a lot of bravado that it will be US-made, it took social media about an hour to find out where the phone actually comes from.
In a post to X by analyst Max Weinbach, it seems that the T1 closely resembles the T-Mobile REVVL 7 Pro 5G. The specifications of the display and the odd camera resolutions match up with the T-Mobile device, along with other details.
That smartphone is made by Wingtech, owned by the Chinese-owned manufacturer Luxshare. The T-Mobile version is believed to be built in Kiaxing, Wuxi, or Kunming, in China.
The T1 appears to be a reskinned version of the REVVL 7 Pro 5G, in a new enclosure and with slightly moved around cameras. This smartphone normally costs $250 at full retail, and even goes down to $169 on sale like it is on Amazon right now.
For the Amazon price, you don't get the gold-colored trim, of course.
The T1 phone may be modded in the USA. It certainly wasn't designed or assembled in the US.
Made in America?
The promotion surrounding Trump Mobile and the T1 certainly paint the operation as a US-centric approach, including for manufacturing the T1. The press release specifically mentions the T1 as "proudly designed and built in the United States."
A press release's mention of Trump Mobile's T1 being designed and built in the U.S. - Image Credit: Trump Organization
In interviews, Eric Trump has also repeatedly mentioned the manufacture of smartphones. "You're gonna have phones that are made right here in the United States of America," he told Fox Business.
On stage for the launch, he declared "Making phones in America, it's about time we bring products back to our great country."
The fact that it is a reskinned smartphone notwithstanding, the repeated claim of the T1 being designed and made in the United States is one that should be further questioned. The information provided about the smartphone is missing quite a few key areas, and goes against the usual expected cost of manufacture, if it is truly a US-made product.
For a start, the specifications list is missing the description of the chip that powers the mobile device. Even though Qualcomm, the main U.S. chip company for mobile processors, is based in the United States, it still outsources chip production to foreign third parties, such as TSMC in Taiwan.
TSMC does have a factory in the United States, but that is still far from being an adequate source of chips, even for Trump Mobile.
The obvious logic here is that the chip is being ignored because it's not a component made in the United States. This can be said of the screen, and the camera modules as well.
That leads to another issue with the claims of it being made in the United States. As AppleInsider has repeatedly discussed, Apple cannot easily bring manufacturing of the iPhone to the United States without significant expenditure, as well as years of planning with its many supply chain partners.
Then there's the issue of somehow building up a skilled workforce in the U.S., to a skill level of what is available from workers in China. Or better robots.
All of these problems that apply to Apple also apply to Trump Mobile's T1, except it doesn't have the massive baggage Apple would have to deal with to do the same thing.
Assembling smartphones in the United States is possible, but on an extremely small scale. There are producers such as Purism who design and assemble smartphones entirely in the United States.
They do not source all of their parts from US manufacturers, though. Cameras, RAM, storage, processors, and screens are all imported.
So assembling a smartphone in the US is not completely impossible, just difficult. And by definition, it will have to be in low volumes.
Trump Mobile would still have to source the components before assembling them in the United States. Add in that those components would ideally have to be sourced from within the U.S. as well, and it becomes a very expensive operation.
Possibly one that on a per-smartphone basis would leave little to no profit from the sub-$500 selling price. Given that Trump businesses want to make a profit, something has to give to make the T1 for $500.
We believe that the device will be assembled and designed in the US. We do not think it will make the Trump Organization's deadline.
Furthermore, the parts the company will need to assemble the phone will need to be imported. They will be subject to the tariffs that the administration applied, unless some kind of special deal is carved out by the Trump administration, making a $500 price point generating a profit unlikely.
So, unless there is some real supply chain magic happening, and there does not appear to be any at this moment, it's extremely unlikely that this will be an entirely U.S.-produced smartphone.
Trump Mobile is clearly aiming for the Trump fan vote with the T1. What they'll get from their money is a mid-rate Android device that won't live up to the plastic shine of its golden exterior.
Updated on June 16, 2025 at 1:04 P.M. Eastern: Added discussion of reskinning from social media.
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Comments
How much will it cost? I'd wager about $5,000 if were to "compete" with an iPhone.
My bet is that this is just gonna end up as vaporware, like the Tesla Roadster, and he's gonna blame it on something or someone else.
I would love to hear from a maga supporter how this is part of a plan.
If the grifts keep working why would he stop?
My understanding is that there is a new White House directive about to come out that says if you have a label on your product that "Made in the USA" then the product is exempt from tariffs.
The only hassle appears to be that the label itself must be made in the USA and affixed to the product wherever it is being imported from, before the product enters the USA.
However, I suppose one could say that designing the phone by selecting parts already on the market and then building the phone by having the various parts put together in their final stage in the USA would, technically, qualify.
I mean, if a person ‘designed’ their own prefab house from, say, Sweden, by using a website that lets them pick and choose parts. And then that person arranged for a local builder to put it all together they could claim that they “designed my own house and had it built by a local builder.”
To be fair, a lot of the iPhone is not really custom either. From the displays to usb c ports, much of the device is available to other companies from the same manufacturers.
The Felon/Rapist: "Hold my Diet Coke..."
the device itself is lame.
I’m sure @9secondkox2 can fill us in on how all this has to be part of the well thought out plan.