We’re still talking about the Trump phone

Where’s the Trump phone? We’re going to keep talking about it every week. We’ve reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump phone’s whereabouts. This week, I’m investigating where it might have been built — and why it definitely wasn’t the US.

Almost a year after its announcement, the Trump phone has “launched.” A few journalists and YouTubers have received early samples of the phone, though there’s still little evidence that any regular buyers have gotten theirs. If and when anyone else gets it, they’ll discover an open secret: Just like Trump’s “God Bless the USA” bible, it’s not really made in the USA.

Where’s the Trump phone? We’re going to keep talking about it every week. We’ve reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump phone’s whereabouts. As the phone’s supposed launch continues, we noticed its website may be violating FTC rules.

When the Trump phone was first announced last June, it was proudly promised to be made in America. Trump Mobile quickly walked back that claim, and now promises only that the T1 is “assembled” in the US. Except… it didn’t walk it back everywhere, with one website page still promising that the phone is “American-made,” in likely violation of Federal Trade Commission rules.

Where’s the Trump phone? We’re going to keep talking about it every week. We’ve reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump phone’s whereabouts. It’s now been more than a week since Trump Mobile announced that phones would “start shipping this week.”

Last week Trump Mobile announced that the T1 Phone was ready to start shipping by the end of the week. Almost two weeks later, there’s no sign that’s actually happened — and the company still hasn’t shipped either of the two phones ordered by The Verge.

Just as the T1 Phone is seemingly on the verge of release, Trump Mobile has been accused of insecurely storing customer data, leaving addresses and phone numbers vulnerable. The alleged leak has also revealed how many T1 Phone orders were apparently placed, and it’s far fewer than viral figures have claimed.

YouTuber Coffeezilla was the first to report the apparent leak on his second channel, voidzilla, having been tipped off by an anonymous person who discovered the “vulnerability” in the Trump Mobile website. The hacker says they’re able to both place fake orders for the phone and “scrape and search the entire pre-order database,” accessing emails, phone numbers, and mailing addresses, though not credit card details. Coffeezilla confirmed that his details were present in the database, as did fellow YouTuber penguinz0.

Where’s the Trump phone? We’re going to keep talking about it every week. We’ve reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump phone’s whereabouts. This week, despite our best hopes, we still don’t have our phone — but we do have some fresh doubts about the company’s patriotic credentials.

This has been a momentous few days for Trump Mobile, in which it defied the haters by announcing that its phones will be shipping to buyers this very week. Not that there’s any sign the company has actually done that, but I digress. Because what I really want to talk about today is the American flag.

The Trump phone may finally be here: Trump Mobile claims that the phone will begin shipping to buyers this week. The announcement comes as reports have gone viral this week alleging that preorders for the phone have been canceled.

Trump Mobile CEO Pat O’Brien first confirmed the release plans to USA Today, telling the outlet that all preorders will be fulfilled within the next few weeks. The company later confirmed the news on its social media accounts, using a very normal number of exclamation marks in the process.

Where’s the Trump phone? We’re going to keep talking about it every week. We’ve reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump phone’s whereabouts. This week, Trump Mobile has been trumped.

It’s been another long week without the Trump phone, but it’s no longer the only nonexistent phone I have to worry about. Robot vacuum manufacturer Dreame has announced its own set of phones that are unlikely to ever launch, and one of them takes the Trump phone playbook and amps it up to 11.

Where’s the Trump phone? We’re going to keep talking about it every week. We’ve reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump phone’s whereabouts. This time we’ve discovered a little more evidence that the phone is on its way to a release.

Trump Mobile’s T1 Phone has just passed another milestone on its slow road to release. The phone has received the little-known PTCRB certification, a first step toward being certified to work on major networks and be issued with IMEI numbers.

Where’s the Trump phone? We’re going to keep talking about it every week. We’ve reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump phone’s whereabouts. We’re back to being ignored, and the phone seems no closer to an actual launch.

Last week Trump Mobile overhauled its website, in the process officially revealing the updated design of its T1 Phone, with a new spec sheet to match. You’d be forgiven for thinking that means it’s ready to release, but make no mistake: beyond a possible FCC authorization and a single phone someone showed me over a video call, there’s still no proof the Trump phone is ever going to launch.

Trump Mobile has overhauled its website, introducing a new logo, new design language, and a new version of the T1 Phone. The redesigned phone is the same one that two company executives showed me over a video call two months ago, seemingly now confirmed to be the final design — but there’s still no word on when it will arrive.

The phone is still gold, of course, with an American flag design on the rear that’s black in some images, but white in others, alongside a “Trump Mobile” wordmark. I was shown a similar design but with an enormous “T1” logo across the whole of the rear, but I was told that would be removed, and it’s nowhere to be seen on the current design. There’s a triple rear camera with the lenses spaced a little oddly (and another “Trump Mobile” logo), and a curved edge to the phone’s body with a headphone jack at the top. It still looks quite a lot like the HTC U24 Pro.

Where’s the Trump phone? We’re going to keep talking about it every week. We’ve reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump phone’s whereabouts. We’re back to being ignored, but the company is showing signs of life.

It’s been nine months since Trump Mobile announced itself, seven months since the company updated any of its social media profiles, and two months since anyone replied to my emails. Based on that, you might think that everyone involved had given up on the whole idea, but this week we saw curious signs of life: a new trademark application.

Where’s the Trump phone? We’re going to keep talking about it every week. We’ve reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump phone’s whereabouts. Crickets.

Despite recent signs of life, another week has come and gone without the Trump T1 Phone. We’re now over nine months since its announcement in June of last year, and it just keeps missing ship dates. That’s enough time to gestate and birth a whole human baby! It’s also like, three (RIP) Samsung Galaxy Z TriFolds long. Which got me to thinking, what other products and services arrived — and maybe even departed — in the time that we’ve been waiting for the T1? Here is an incomplete list:

Where’s the Trump phone? We’re going to keep talking about it every week. We’ve reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump phone’s whereabouts. This week I think I’ve found an FCC listing for the phone, showing it’s received certification to launch in the US.

Last week I issued a reminder that Trump Mobile’s T1 Phone does not exist, and may never exist, despite the fact that the company showed me a phone in an effort to convince me otherwise. Today instead I bring cause for optimism for the Trump phone believers: it appears to have been certified by the FCC.

Where’s the Trump phone? We’re going to keep talking about it every week. We’ve reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump phone’s whereabouts. Once again, we’re waiting for a response.

It’s been more than a month since two Trump Mobile executives showed me what they claimed was the T1 Phone, and in the time since, there’s been… nothing. No news, no announcements, no phone. And the company has gone back to ignoring my emails.

Where’s the Trump phone? We’re going to keep talking about it every week. This week, I wanted to see how Trump Mobile stacks up to its conservative carrier competition.

Trump Mobile isn’t unique. I mean, it is in some pretty specific senses — it’s not every day the president’s family launches a phone company while he’s in office — but it’s far from the first company to offer a mobile carrier targeted at the conservative crowd.

Where’s the Trump phone? We’re going to keep talking about it every week. We’ve reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump phone’s whereabouts. This time, we tried, and failed, to find it at the world’s biggest mobile trade show.

This week Barcelona was taken over by the tech industry as Mobile World Congress descended on the Spanish city. The world’s biggest mobile show, MWC featured product launches from Xiaomi and Honor, colossal booths from Samsung and Motorola, and appearances from major carriers including T-Mobile and AT&T. You know who was missing? Trump Mobile.

Where’s the Trump phone? We’re going to keep talking about it every week. We’ve reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump phone’s whereabouts, and have stopped getting a response. This week, thanks to a reader tip, we think we’ve found the original phone the T1 is based on.

A long time ago, back when the Trump phone was but a single, inaccurate render and a contradictory spec sheet, we tried to figure out what other phone it might be based on. Now, eight months, two spec overhauls, and one redesign later, I have a good guess: the HTC U24 Pro.

Where’s the Trump phone? We’re going to keep talking about it every week. This week, we explain how the presidential phone company connects to an older company that’s really running the show.

We’ve long known that Trump Mobile was linked to Liberty Mobile, a carrier that’s traded for years using freedom-themed branding to sell cheap mobile plans to a conservative crowd. Turns out, the two businesses are even closer to one another than it had initially appeared. And as we wait for the launch of the Trump phone — potentially as soon as next month, having been delayed from August — it’s worth understanding who’s actually behind the device, regardless of the name that will be emblazoned on its back.

Where’s the Trump phone? We’re going to keep talking about it every week. Last week, we spoke to executives from the company for the first time, and this week we’re back with more details on how it began.

Trump Mobile may bear the US president’s name, but he didn’t come up with the idea, and neither did any Trump. In fact, it was the executives at MVNO Liberty Mobile that approached the Trumps with a pitch for the company, and it wasn’t their first rodeo; five years earlier, Liberty Mobile tested the same playbook with world champion boxer Canelo Álvarez.

Where’s the Trump phone? We’re going to keep talking about it every week. We’ve reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump phone’s whereabouts. This time, surprisingly, we received a response — and an interview.

The Trump phone is real — maybe, sort of, soon? — and I’ve seen it. Not in the flesh, but during an hourlong video call with two Trump Mobile executives who showed me a phone, and told me more about why it was delayed, when it might actually reach buyers, and why its spec sheet has changed again and again.

Where’s the Trump phone? We’re going to keep talking about it every week. We’ve reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump phone’s whereabouts. As usual, we’re still waiting for a response. In the meantime, I finally got a reply from a company exec.

After months — months — of emailing various official Trump Mobile accounts and press addresses, last week someone answered back. Don Hendrickson, a member of the company’s executive team, finally replied to one of my emails and offered to talk, but he’s ignored me ever since.

Where’s the Trump Phone? We’re going to keep talking about it every week. We’ve reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump Phone’s whereabouts. As usual, we’re still waiting for a response. In the meantime, it turns out we might have two Trump Phones to worry about.

The Trump Phone may be no more than a whisper in the wind, but Trump Mobile is already planning a second. One of the company’s top executives revealed in an interview that a “T1 Ultra” is also in the works, though we know even less about it than we do about the first phone.