Where is Trump’s phone? We will talk about it every week. We’ve reached out as usual to ask where Trump’s phone is. It’s now been over a week since Trump Mobile announced that the phones would “start shipping this week.”
Last week, Trump Mobile announced that the T1 Phone was ready to go on sale by the end of the week. Almost two weeks later, there’s no sign of that actually happening — and the company still hasn’t delivered either of the two phones it ordered The Verge.
Depending on where you’re getting your news, you can trust the company when it says the phone is out now: The phone is “here” according to Newsweek“finally released” by The Daily Beastand is now “supplied” by Reuters.
None of this appears to be true. Neither of The VergeThe two phones ordered by the company have been shipped and at this point we can’t – Trump Mobile still hasn’t asked us for our shipping address and hasn’t charged us more than the $100 initial deposit. Aside from us, I can’t find a single regular buyer who claims to have received a phone call or even an email confirming that their phone is ready to ship or that the company intends to charge them the remaining $399 after it’s assembled. It seems the company’s promised wide rollout hasn’t started yet.
At least two phones have she left, though not through the usual channels. Both NBC and OVERHANG received T1 phones; the former said that it received the phone after an email from the company promising that “the devices are going to the media”. OVERHANG he says his order was “expedited” by Trump Mobile “because we’re cnet.com.” I have contacted Trump Mobile numerous times and have now been told that we will expedite our own order, although there has been no change in the status of our order at the time of writing.
The good news is that both phones send to NBC and OVERHANG to match what was in the company’s latest promotional video. Each comes with a braided USB-C cable, wall charger and plastic case, and looks identical to the latest advertised design – including the 11-stripe American flag. You also get two unusual pre-installed apps: Trump’s social network, Truth Social; and Doctegrity, a telehealth service included in Trump Mobile plans. Neither NBC nor OVERHANG has yet to check the phone, although NBC at least “tested its basic functions such as calling, texting, browsing the Internet, and taking pictures, all of which worked normally.” It’s a low bar, but the Trump phone clears it.
Trump’s phone release isn’t the only unsubstantiated claim I’ve seen recently. Lots of outlets are still repeating that 590,000 buyers have pre-ordered the phone, which, as I explained in January, has not been proven – and this week’s leak of customer data suggests a maximum of 30,000 phones have been ordered. Others say the phone is based on the $250 T-Mobile Revvl 7 Pro 5G — we considered the same thing when the T1 was first announced, but the latest version of the phone doesn’t match the Revvl at all. Some publications are even saying that the phone is made in China – it could be, but we don’t know, and if anything, the available evidence suggests that Taiwan is more likely.
All the noise aside, it looks like Trump Mobile got what it wanted. Announcing the plan to ship the phones and sending two to the media gave the impression that the phone was here, buyers were happy, and the whole thing was closed. Nothing to see here, folks.
In my 11 months covering this company, I’ve learned not to take Trump Mobile at their word. This is a company that has missed every deadline it’s ever made, changed the design and specs of its phone multiple times, and messed up where it’s built.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’ll believe the Trump phone is here not only when the two models that The Verge bought are in our hands, but when a lot of other buyers also have their own. Until then, the Trump phone has not been released, it has not been shipped, and it is not here.
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