Trump Mobile T1 phone: Backs away from ‘Made in USA’

If you’ve been following the escapades of Donald Turmp – hard to do given just how much the 47th President of the United States does and says on a weekly basis – you may remember that The Trump Organisation announced a new mobile phone called the Trump Mobile T1 last June. 

Originally slated to release in Q3 2025, it faced multiple delays across the end of last year. But according to Trump Mobile’s X account (which was only just resurrected), shipping began this week, 9 months after schedule. 

As with so many products branded with the President’s name, the T1 is characterised by unabashed ‘America First’ marketing. That the phone is “Made in the USA”, however, is no longer being claimed by Trump Mobile, with that phrasing being expunged from the Trump Mobile website.

Instead, the language has pivoted to the more abstract “designed with American values in mind” and “shaped by American innovation” phrases.

That “American innovation” apparently takes the form of a re-badged HTC U24 Pro, according to separate reports by The Verge and NBC News. 

In our previous coverage of the T1, we noted that, purely based on the provided renders and the specs given, there were not enough clues to guess which OEM manufacturer the phone came from. With physical units surfacing since then, some key changes, including an updated design and the addition of an ultrawide camera, has made the resemblance uncanny.

The rest of the main specs – a 6.8-inch 1290Hz AMOLED screen, 5000mAh battery, 50MP main camera and, 3.5mm headphone jack – remain unchanged.

We shouldn’t have to tell you that HTC is a Taiwanese company, as readers will surely be familiar with the fallen giant. It’s important to note, though, that the U24 Pro is approaching two years in age, having been released in June 2024.

NBC’s report did state that the T1’s box had an “Assembled in USA” label, which is legally distinct from being “Made in USA” in the eyes of the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC). While the latter requires parts to have been sourced from, and assembly to have occurred, in America, an “assembled in” label implies that the product can contain foreign parts, but assembly must have substantially taken place in the USA.

Legal semantics aside, time will tell if consumers actually get their hands on these. Certain members of the media have already gotten their hands on review units, so there have been at least a few T1s manufactured so far, wherever that manufacturing took place.

The Trump Mobile T1 has a promotional price of US$499 (~S$639), and was announced alongside The 47 Plan, a US$47.45/month (~S$61/month) 5G plan, with variants meant for families, as well as veterans and active-duty members of the US military. 

If you’re morbidly curious about whether you can get your hands on a T1 in Singapore, don’t even bother. Despite the fact that it’s already shipping, you’ll have to join a waitlist to get the phone. Even then, the website requires IMEI verification before it lets you get to the next step. It’s quite obvious, anyway, that the phone was only designed for Americans, despite questions surrounding whether it’s being made in the USA.