(Credit: Trump Mobile)
After numerous delays, the Trump-branded T1 phone might finally be shipping to buyers.
Almost a year after its June 2025 debut, the T1 will "start shipping this week," Trump Mobile announced today. "Those who preordered the T1 Phone will be receiving an update email." An announcement video also shows off the redesigned device.
Still, we’re skeptical. Trump Mobile previously said the phone would launch in August or September. But then it was delayed to October, and then again to November or December, with Trump Mobile citing efforts to build the phone in the US. But the year ended without the T1, with the company blaming it on the 43-day government shutdown.
By February, executives for the carrier conceded that the phone wouldn’t be manufactured in the US, but said the handset had been redesigned with better specs, while promising it would arrive soon, possibly in late March.
(Credit: Trump Mobile)Today, Trump Mobile CEO Pat O’Brien told USA Today that the company is finally ready to start fulfilling preorders “within the next several weeks,” suggesting customers who preordered could still face a substantial wait.
The long delay recently sparked a flurry of stories alleging that Trump Mobile is a scam after the company published new terms and conditions for the T1 preorders that noted, “A deposit is not a purchase, does not constitute acceptance of an order, does not create a contract for sale… and does not guarantee that a Device will be produced or made available for purchase.”
Those who preordered were charged $100, which will go toward the $499 phone when it ships.
O'Brien tells USA Today that “those delays were worth it in our minds as we are delivering an amazing product.” He also claimed that the first T1 units were assembled in the US and that future models will adopt more components built primarily in the country.
In the meantime, Trump Mobile continues to advertise the T1 at a $499 promotional price, saying the phone has been “designed with American values in mind." But users who order must still go through the waitlist. Last June, Trump Mobile removed the "made right here in the USA" advertising claim, replacing it with a more vague, "American-Proud Design."