The Trump Mobile T1 Phone looks both bad and impossible.

9 Urgent Questions About Trump Mobile and the Gold

 T1 Smartphone.

It’s supposedly made in the US, cheap, and coming this fall. I doubt it all.

We don’t know much about the new Trump Mobile phone or the company’s data plan, but we sure do have a lot of questions. 

Here is a roughly complete list of all the things we know for sure about the first phone made for the new Trump Mobile wireless provider: it’s called the T1 Phone 8002 (gold version). It costs $499, and you can reserve one now with a $100 down payment. It is, according to the website, coming in September.That’s about all I feel confident saying. Beyond that, all we have is a website that was clearly put together quickly and somewhat sloppily, a promise that the phone is “designed and built in the USA” that I absolutely do not believe, a picture that appears to be nearly 100 percent Photoshopped, and a list of specs that don’t make a lot of sense together. The existence of a “gold version” of the phone implies a not-gold version, but the Trump Mobile website doesn’t say anything more about that.  

Here are the salient specs, according to the site:

• 6.78-inch AMOLED display, with a punch hole for the camera
• 120Hz refresh rate
• Three cameras on the back, including a 50MP camera, a 2MP depth sensor, and a 2MP macro lens
• 16MP selfie camera
• a 5,000mAh battery (the Trump Mobile website actually says “5000mAh long life camera,” so I’m just assuming here)
• 256GB of storage
• 12GB of RAM (the site also calls this “storage,” which, sure)
• Fingerprint sensor in the screen and face unlock
• USB-C
• Headphone jack
• Android 15

There’s no processor listed, even though there’s a section for it on the site — and processors are pretty important! Some of them are fairly standard in the non-premium Android world: you can find phones from Asus and other brands with 6.78-inch screens matching the T1’s description, for instance, and 256GB of storage and a 5,000mAh battery are both relatively common.

Donald Trump has launched a new product: the Trump Phone (or "T1")—a $499 Android device with a $47.45/month plan, marketed heavily by his sons. Chris Cillizza explains how this move fits a long pattern of Trump slapping his name on existing products—steaks, Bibles, sneakers, even cryptocurrency ventures—to monetize his political brand. Cillizza argues this isn’t about tech innovation; it’s about profit, power, and blurring the line between politics and business. The Trump Organization, still under family control, is cashing in—openly and aggressively. Cillizza calls it “the most blatant presidential grift in modern history.” 

2021: SMS-Sending Spyware Preinstalled on Some Russian and Chinese Feature Phones. 

https://commsrisk.com/sms-sending-spyware-preinstalled-on-some-russian-and-chinese-feature-phones/ 

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-deposed-in-fraud-suit-involving-doomed-video-phone-report-2022-10 

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-lawsuit-manhattan-video-phone-acn-marketing-trial-new-york-1856848 

A vulnerability has been discovered by Virginia-based cyber-security company Kryptowire, which said the devices can also be reprogrammed remotely and receive commands.

https://eandt.theiet.org/2016/11/17/made-china-smartphone-spies-users-researchers-found

 

Trump Organization unveils $499 Trump Mobile device.

https://youtu.be/VsYS91Y1hjw

Are Trump’s ‘Swiss-Made’ Watches From Wyoming?

The curious hunt for the company behind Trump’s new ‘Swiss-made’ watches | CNN Politics

Trump’s “Vastly Overpriced” $100,000 “Swiss Watch” Is Probably Made in China, Experts Say

The former president's new timepieces are the laughingstock of watch aficionados, who cast doubt on their true origins — "as ersatz as the man himself."

SEPTEMBER 27, 2024

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/style/trump-watch-likely-made-in-china-overpriced-1236013728/

Donald Trump’s $640 Watch Was Delivered With a Major Typo | GQ 

Last September, Donald Trump launched a wide range of watches, including everything from $100,000 tourbillons to relatively affordable diver-style pieces. The watches carried all the hallmarks of the current president’s style—they’re gaudy, over-the-top, and gold, and many of them come covered in diamonds. And, as of this week, at least one of the timepieces shares another quality with many of Trump’s products: it’s defective.

Tim Petit, a Rhode Island man, bought a $640 “Inauguration First Lady” watch. The timepiece is a gold-tone, pink-dialed, limited-edition, Trump-themed dive watch that Petit got as a gift for his wife, only for it to show up missing the “T” in “TRUMP,” NBC 10 News reported. A single missing letter wouldn’t be so funny if this didn’t result in the dial reading “RUMP.”

 

A short history of the ‘Obamaphone’

 

A little history. As far back as the 1930s, public policy established the need for universal phone service. During the Reagan administration, the FCC established the Universal Service Fund. A tax on everyone’s phone bill fed the fund, which enabled people to receive subsidies for basic telephone service.  To qualify, a person or household must be receiving one or more of several federal assistance benefits. By the logic that established the term “Obamaphone,” you’d have to call a 1980s rotary phone installed via the Universal Service Fund a Reaganphone.

During the Obama administration, the FCC’s approach to universal service expanded. Congress in 2009 enacted a law ordering the FCC to develop its National Broadband Plan. The Obama administration, well into the internet and wireless age, agreed that broadband and cellular services are essential. So, yes, citizens of various federal programs could qualify for a cellphone — a basic one, not the latest iPhone or Galaxy — with a plan they receive under Lifeline.

The program has come back into the news in recent days, principally on conservative sites, because of a Government Accountability Office study of Lifeline, one of four FCC programs funded by the Universal Service Fund.

The fund itself  has reached about $10 billion, according to the GAO’s Seto Bagdoyan. Among the problems GAO found: The FCC keeps the funds in a private bank it pays $1.7 million a year to manage. In my interview, Bagdoyan says even his team of forensic auditors could not find the misty origins of this arrangement. It apparently dates to the fund’s origination. Now the FCC has a plan to migrate the fund to a Treasury account, where it belongs.

GAO also found fault with how the FCC administers Lifeline. The agency tries to oversee a complicated, multi-tier arrangement consisting of carriers, Lifeline contractors, and call centers. It all adds up to the impossibility of knowing how much fraud and abuse occurs. Sorting this out is a long-term challenge for FCC. For now, though, the GAO couldn’t determine how many of a sample of 3 million Lifeline recipients actually qualify by virtue of being on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or Social Security disability.

There must be money in the Lifeline program. Even Virgin Mobile — the Virgin that has the airline and the hotels — has a Lifeline subsidiary.

In digging a little into this, I did find at least one Lifeline contractor only too happy to capitalize on the “Obamaphone” phenom. It actually calls itself Obamaphone.com. Somewhere on its site this company does acknowledge the term is slang, not an FCC designation.

With little evidence of congressional or White House desire to end the program, maybe it’s time to switch to a new term: “Trumpphone.” 

Trump's new gold-colored T1 smartphone is being marketed primarily to conservative consumers who are looking for alternatives to mainstream telecom providers. The branding leans heavily on patriotic themes, emphasizing American manufacturing, U.S.-based customer support, and white nationalist messaging.

The marketing strategy positions the device as a premium, American-made product that aligns with the values of right-leaning consumers who may feel underserved by existing tech giants. The Trump family has framed the launch as a game-changing move for "real Americans" who want a wireless service that reflects their values. However, analysts have raised concerns about the competitiveness and long-term viability of the venture in a market dominated by Apple, Samsung, and major carriers.

Trump's airline venture, Trump Shuttle, failed due to a combination of poor financial planning, misguided branding, and market challenges.

High Debt & Financial Mismanagement – Trump took out a $380 million loan to acquire Eastern Air Shuttle, but the airline never turned a profit. The debt burden forced him to default on payments, and ownership was eventually handed over to creditors.

Luxury Over Practicality – Trump spent millions upgrading the planes with gold-plated fixtures, maple-wood floors, and chrome seat-belt latches, believing passengers would pay extra for a more glamorous experience. However, travelers valued punctuality and affordability over aesthetics, making the upgrades ineffective.

Market Challenges – The airline industry was struggling with rising fuel costs and economic downturns, particularly in the lead-up to the Gulf War, which further hurt profitability.

Ultimately, Trump Shuttle was merged into Shuttle Inc. in 1992, marking the end of the venture. It serves as a cautionary tale of prioritizing branding over business fundamentals.