The latest news in the Trump T1 Phone story
The next chapter in the Trump Mobile story has started.
Trump Mobile loses its PR firm | Image by Trump Mobile
The Trump T1 Phone story is not over. Yes, Trump Mobile started shipping the long-awaited device last month, and it turns out the phone is a repackaged and modified HTC U24 Pro, originally released in 2024. Priced at $499, there are things about the phone to like, including the 512GB of storage, the three 50MP cameras (main rear, telephoto with 2x optical zoom, and front-facing selfie snapper), the 5000mAh battery, expandable storage, a 3.5mm earphone jack, and the 6.78-inch AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate.
Trump Mobile needs to address lack of an update timeline for the T1 Phone
There are things not to like such as Trump Mobile's failure to release an update schedule. The Trump T1 Phone comes out of the box with Android 15 pre-installed, and the application processor under the hood is the mid-range Snapdragon 7 Gen 3.
There should be legitimate veterans with experience in the mobile industry running Trump Mobile. Still, it blows my mind that there has been no word passed along about the Trump T1 Phone's update schedule. It does occur to me that buyers of the Trump T1 Phone might not be your usual smartphone purchasers and annual Android and monthly/quarterly security updates might not have mattered to them.
Trump Mobile loses its public relations company
The device remains in the news as the public relations firm that was representing Trump Mobile, the Poplar Group, says that it is no longer handling PR for the wireless firm. Chris Walker, founding partner of Poplar, told The Verge that his company "is not assisting Trump Mobile any further."
Walker might have been more trouble to Trump Mobile than Trump Mobile was to him since he is the person who claimed to USA Today that the Trump T1 Phone was made in America, a brag that even Trump Mobile admits these days is not the case. Walker says he has no idea whether Trump Mobile is signed with another PR firm.
Trump Mobile's $47.45 plan features several perks
Trump Mobile offers a $47.45 a month plan, and if you can't figure out how the company arrived at that price, Trump Mobile is probably not the wireless provider for you. For that price you get:
- Unlimited talk
- Unlimited text
- Unlimited data (the first 20GB is high-speed data; if the 20GB is consumed within a 30-day period, data speeds could be reduced for the rest of the period)
- International Calling to over 230 Countries & Territories
- Free insurance that covers up to $2,000 a year for mechanical or electrical breakdowns, replacement of an accidentally cracked screen
- Free roadside assistance
- Access to Telehealth
Trump Mobile customers are actually getting their wireless service from T-Mobile since the wireless provider is a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO). This means that Trump Mobile does not have its own network infrastructure, such as spectrum, cell towers, and radios.
T-Mobile provides the cellular service for Trump Mobile, an MVNO
Instead, Trump Mobile partners with Liberty Mobile Wireless and the latter purchases access to the T-Mobile network in bulk and sells it Trump Mobile, who then raises the price. Trump Mobile and the T1 smartphone are owned by T1 Mobile LLC, a separate private business that leases the Trump name under an agreement with the Trump Organization.
The Trump T1 Phone on the right, is a modified HTC U24 Pro on the left. | Image by iFixit
Earlier this year, there was talk about the release of a second model. We guess that it would be called the Trump T2 Phone. We also don't have an accurate picture of the demand for the phone. Earlier talk of 590,000 units reserved by pre-order is now believed to be an exaggeration as the platform's logs are said to contain only 10,000 unique customers.
It will be interesting to see what happens with Trump Mobile in the future. Have any of you seen the Trump T1 Phone used out in the wild? If you have, let us know the circumstances by dropping a comment in the box below.
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