【1998 Archives】

When Trump Mobile998 Archivesits flagship T1 smartphone were announced Monday morning, the internet’s tech-savvy corners lit up with skepticism. The specs sounded familiar — maybe too familiar — and it didn’t take long for people to start speculating that the so-called "American-made" phone might be a rebranded import dressed up in gold trim.

Trump Mobile is the latest in a long line of white-label ventures under DTTM Corporation, the Trump Organization’s trademark licensing arm run by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. The phone, priced at $499 with a $100 preorder deposit, is being marketed alongside a new mobile service that costs $47.45 per month — a nod to Trump’s status as the 45th and 47th US president. That rate gets you unlimited talk, text, data, and other perks, though it’s still double the cost of similar mobile virutal network operators like Boost and Mint.

As for the hardware, the T1 is wrapped in a gold-colored casing and features a 6.8-inch punch-hole AMOLED display, an under-display fingerprint sensor, and "AI Face Unlock." Notably, the product page for the phone contains no details on the phone's processor. It’s set to launch in September, just in time to compete with Apple’s iPhone 17 lineup — timing that feels deliberate, especially given Trump’s long-standing push to get Apple to shift iPhone manufacturing to the United States.

But that’s where the math breaks down. Core components like AMOLED displays, VCSEL sensors for face unlock, and camera modules aren’t manufactured domestically. That means producing a truly American-made smartphone at scale is nearly impossible with current infrastructure.

The only smartphone that even approaches a "Made in America" label is the Librem 5 USA, and it comes with some serious trade-offs. According to its own spec sheet, the device lacks face unlock, 5G support, and even an OLED display. Yet it still sells for $1,599. That price point aligns with what analysts estimate an iPhone could cost if Apple shifted full-scale manufacturing back to the U.S.

According to Apple Insider, tech analyst Max Weinbach posted on X that the T1 appears to be a repackaged Wingtech REVVL 7 Pro 5G, manufactured by Chinese supplier Luxshare. The same base phone is currently available on Amazon in its T-Mobile variant for $169.

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The phones aren't a 1-to-1 match, however. To address the differences in appearance, Weinbach explained that Chinese ODMs (original design manufacturers) often provide a base model with customizable features. Buyers can adjust RAM, storage, or casing with minimal added cost, allowing for devices that look or perform slightly differently while still being the same under the hood.

Even if you’re skeptical of tech sleuths on social media, industry analysts are saying the same thing. Speaking to CNBC, Francisco Jeronimo, vice president at market research firm International Data Corp., said it would be "completely impossible" for the T1 to be assembled or fully manufactured in the U.S. The local manufacturing capabilities just don’t exist for that, not at this price, not at this scale.