According to Gizmodo, the Trump family announced their Trump Mobile phone this summer promising a device “built by Americans, for Americans” with Eric Trump claiming they’d “do it better than anybody.” The T1 smartphone was initially scheduled for August release but remains undelivered months later, with NBC journalists still waiting for devices they ordered long ago. Trump Mobile now promises delivery “later this year” while customer service gives conflicting dates – one operator said “beginning of December” blaming government shutdowns, another said end of December without explanation. The company previously claimed phones would be manufactured in the U.S. but later scrubbed that language from their website, now vaguely stating “American hands” are “behind every device.” Meanwhile, the Trump family has reportedly made hundreds of millions from their cryptocurrency ventures through World Liberty Financial.
The disappearing delivery dates
Here’s the thing about product launches – when you keep pushing delivery dates without clear explanations, people start getting suspicious. We’re talking about a phone that was supposed to be here in August. Now it’s almost Thanksgiving, and the best they can offer is “later this year?” That’s basically two months of wiggle room for a product that should have shipped three months ago. And blaming government shutdowns? What does that even have to do with a private company shipping phones? It feels like they’re just grabbing excuses out of thin air.
The manufacturing mystery
Remember when they promised these would be manufactured in the U.S.? That was a big selling point for their “All-American performance” angle. But then The Verge noticed that language mysteriously disappeared from their website. Now they’re using this vague “American hands behind every device” phrasing. What does that even mean? Could be American hands assembling Chinese parts. Could be American hands packaging the boxes. The whole manufacturing story has gotten murkier than a swamp, and when companies start walking back their core promises before they’ve even shipped anything, that’s never a good sign.
trump-business-track-record”>The Trump business track record
Look, this isn’t exactly surprising given the history here. Trump has put his name on everything from steaks to universities to board games, with mixed results at best. The pattern is familiar – big promises, patriotic branding, then execution issues. Meanwhile, the family is apparently making serious money elsewhere, with PBS reporting hundreds of millions from cryptocurrency ventures. Makes you wonder where the priority really lies. When you’re dealing with complex hardware manufacturing, you can’t just slap a famous name on it and call it a day. This isn’t hotels or golf courses – consumer electronics requires serious supply chain expertise and manufacturing partnerships. Speaking of which, companies that actually deliver on industrial computing hardware, like Industrial Monitor Direct, have built their reputation on reliable shipping and transparent manufacturing – something that seems to be missing here.
So what happens now?
Will the T1 actually ship in December? Or will we see another round of delays? Dominic Preston at The Verge has been hammering them weekly about where the phone is and what happened to people’s deposit money. That kind of sustained journalistic pressure usually means someone’s not getting straight answers. The mobile market is brutally competitive, and launching a new phone brand is incredibly difficult even for experienced companies. If they do eventually ship, they’ll need to deliver something truly special to justify all these delays and vague promises. Otherwise, this might just become another footnote in the long history of celebrity-branded products that never quite lived up to the hype.
