NEW YORK — In the gilded lobby of Trump Tower on Monday, Donald Trump Jr. stood before flashing cameras to reveal the Trump family’s latest venture: a new mobile phone brand, Trump Mobile.
The centrepiece? A device they’re calling the “T1,” billed as “proudly designed and built in the United States.”
But soon after the announcement, that claim began to fray.
Industry analysts say the phone’s listed features closely match those of a budget device already on sale, manufactured in China. And while the Trump brothers insist the phone is American-made, even they have offered slightly different stories about where the device is actually built.
“Unless the Trump family secretly built out a secure, onshore fabrication operation over years of work without anyone noticing, it’s simply not possible to deliver what they’re promising,” said Todd Weaver, CEO of Purism, a rare US-based phone manufacturer.
Familiar Specs, Foreign Roots?
Technical experts CNN spoke to raised eyebrows at how much the T1 resembles the Revvl 7 Pro 5G a $169 phone made by China-based Wingtech. They noted the same screen size, storage, battery, and even the presence of a headphone jack, which is unusual in modern phones.
Max Weinbach, an analyst at Creative Strategies, said he saw no evidence the T1 is anything but a rebadged Chinese-made phone.
“There are only four or five companies globally that could make a phone like this, and all of them are based in China,” he said.
Another phone the Vtex Smart Phone, listed on a Chinese supplier site matches the T1 even more closely, with near-identical features, right down to the battery and software version.
CNN has reached out to both Wingtech and Shenzhen Vitek Electronics, the maker of the Vtex phone, for comment. As of publication, neither had responded.
A Shifting Story
On the Trump Mobile website, the company says the T1 will be “Made in the USA.” But in a separate interview with conservative personality Benny Johnson, Eric Trump softened that claim, saying, “Eventually all the phones can be built in the United States of America.”
When pressed by CNN, the Trump Organisation did not clarify whether the first batch of T1 phones would, in fact, be manufactured domestically.
A press release added a further wrinkle. It states that Trump Mobile products are not “designed, developed, manufactured, distributed or sold by The Trump Organization or any of their respective affiliates.” Instead, it appears the family name is being licensed something they’ve done across everything from vodka to steaks in the past.
The Hard Reality of American Manufacturing
While “Made in the USA” is a catchy slogan, experts warn that building a smartphone entirely within US borders is extremely difficult, and unlikely within Trump Mobile’s stated timeline for a September 2025 release.
“Any phone shipping in September will likely not be built in the US,” said Ryan Reith, a vice president at IDC, a global tech research firm. “That’s a given.”
America lacks the manufacturing infrastructure and specialised labour needed to produce smartphones at scale. Even Apple, with its vast resources, has struggled to move iPhone production out of China and India. Doing so would raise prices significantly and require a complete shift in global supply chains.
Weaver of Purism confirmed that intermediaries linked to the Trump Organisation had recently reached out to his company to ask what it would take to build a phone on US soil. Purism’s Liberty Phone, priced at $1,999, is one of the few partially US-made phones on the market—but even it relies on imported parts.
“There are just some components you cannot get anywhere else,” he said, citing a specific crystal used in GPS chips that is only made in China.
He also warned that US regulators, including the Federal Trade Commission, have “strict guidelines” about using the label Made in USA.
“I think there will be a lot of backpedalling,” Weaver added. “This isn’t something you can just slap a flag on and call American.”
A Political Undertone
Though Donald Trump Sr. is not directly involved with the project, the timing is notable. The former president has long pushed for tech companies to bring jobs back to America. He’s also threatened tariffs on phones made abroad.
The launch of Trump Mobile could appeal to a politically loyal customer base eager to support a product that claims to put “America first.” But as experts continue to dig into the details, the gap between the brand’s message and the manufacturing reality appears to be growing.
Whether the T1 turns out to be a US-built breakthrough or just a Chinese device in American wrapping remains to be seen.
