Shocker. The Trump Mobile T1 phone will not be ‘Made in the USA.’ We know this because the Trump Mobile website quietly altered the T1 language and now claims the phone will be “American Proud Design”.
It’s an interesting turn of phrase, and one that’s reminiscent of how Apple describes the creation of its popular iPhone. On the packaging (it used to be on the devices), it says ‘Designed by Apple in California.’ Everyone knows that the products are largely assembled elsewhere, often in China, but increasingly in India and Vietnam.
For months, US President Donald Trump has been pressuring Apple CEO Tim Cook to build his iPhone in America. Cook has offered some plans to help shift the balance so that some of the work, perhaps some chip development, possibly some Apple Intelligence hosting, might happen in the US, but that’s never been enough for Trump.
But now, maybe, just maybe, Trump will change his tune. Even though the President is not directly involved with Trump Mobile or the T1 phone (it’s a Trump family business), it has all the earmarks of a Donald Trump creation, including the gaudy gold finish and that somewhat oddball design (why is it so tall?). The ‘Made in the US’ claim was no accident; that’s Trump’s entire brand.
The new wordsmithing on the Trump Mobile site is nothing if not entertaining:
“The T1 Phone isn’t just powerful—it’s brought to life right here in the USA. With American hands behind every device, we bring care, precision, and trusted quality to every detail.”
Is that “American hands” collecting the money on pre-orders? I doubt it means that anyone is assembling the phone in the US. Maybe there’s a US designer who’s looked at all the existing Android 15 smartphones and selected his favorite bits (I give them credit for including the 3.5mm headphone jack).
‘Made for America’, more like it
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Trump Mobile, though, is facing the hard truth of 21st-century consumer electronics: almost nothing is built in the US, and almost all the components needed to make the phone are fabricated outside the contiguous United States.
As we reported a few weeks ago, living up to the ‘Made in the US’ claim was challenging, at best:
“Firstly, “made in the USA” has a high bar. Professor Tinglong Dai, who teaches at the Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School, told us: “The FTC [Federal Trade Commission] has a strict standard for “Made in USA”: all or almost all parts and processing must be domestic. Judging by that standard, the claim is unrealistic.”
Will Trump finally concede to Cook that, “Yes, perhaps, it’s not reasonable to demand that you build your iPhone here in America when I can’t even build my own name-branded phone here in the US.”
The $499 phone has been on preorder for less than two weeks, but I do wonder if anyone who was sold on the idea of a modern ‘Made in the USA’ handset has been requesting the return of their $100 down payment.
Will more people now wait until the phone ships “later this year” and for the first reviews to appear before they buy? That’s assuming Trump Mobile offers the phone for review. For American tech media, that means Trump Mobile will need to figure out how to get the phone to the US first.
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lance.ulanoff@futurenet.com (Lance Ulanoff)
