- Two executives from Trump Mobile talked to The Verge, providing a first look at the nearly finished version of the Trump phone
- Several elements have changed since it was first announced last year, including the camera design
- The executives suggest the decision to re-spec the phone caused some of the delays
We have yet to see it, but a tenacious reporter at The Verge was able to actually talk to a couple of the executives behind the Trump Mobile phone service and get a glimpse of the elusive Trump phone.
It’s a big get because plenty of folks, including Fierce, have tried to get in touch with the people behind the Trump service to no avail. But the Verge managed to speak with two Trump Mobile executives who talked about the phone’s delay and some of the changes behind the spec sheet.
The launch date for the Trump phone was initially August or September (there was some confusion initially as to which month the Trump phone would launch). Then customer service reps told us it would be the end of the next month — October, November or December. Same for January. Now it might be mid-March. But we’ll see.
When the Trump Mobile service was introduced in June, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. were joined on stage by the Trump Mobile management team: Pat O’Brien, Don Hendrickson and Eric Thomas, who were said to have a combined 120 years of experience in the wireless industry.
Last week, the Verge spoke with Hendrickson and Thomas in an hour-long video call and saw a version of the gold T1 phone. It wasn’t a final production model, but supposedly close to it.
Why so late with the Trump phone?
According to the executives, there was so much interest in the T1 phone that they decided to skip making the entry-level phone they initially envisioned and spent more time on a revamped model.
The current version of the phone sports a different camera layout and appears to be slightly larger. It will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 series chipset.
Now for the timing: The phone has cleared Federal Communications Commission (FCC) certification and awaits certification from T-Mobile, which could come sometime in mid-March. Certification processes through Verizon and AT&T presumably will follow.
For people who put down a $100 deposit, the phone will remain at $499. Later buyers will pay more, although it will remain priced at less than $1,000, according to the Verge.
Exact origin country unknown
Trump Mobile walked back initial claims that the Trump phone would be "made in the USA" after analysts questioned how that was even possible. The Trump Mobile website currently describes the phone as “Proudly American” and “designed with American values in mind.”
The executives didn’t say exactly where the phone is being manufactured but told the Verge that the bulk of the assembly is in a “favored nation,” and that the “final assembly” is done in Miami.
Fierce reached out to the Trump organization for comment, but didn’t immediately hear back.
A call into Trump Mobile’s customer service today revealed that the Trump phone is expected to be available in “the first quarter of 2026.” However, “the timing could change depending on the completion of certification and testing,” a service representative told Fierce.