Not the biggest thing in the world. But it caught my attention. The Trump family is rolling out something called Trump Mobile, which is basically a mobile phone service for real Americans.
It has all the standard stuff you’d get with a phone service, in theory, while being more expensive. Digging under the hood reveals it just sits on top of the existing networks. But that’s true of most independent services. The big thing is that Trump Mobile will sell you a Trump-branded and made in America phone. The Trump Mobile website has a photoshop created “gold edition” T1 Trump phone that notionally runs on Android. Here’s a piece from The Verge going through all the notional specs, including the processor, which isn’t disclosed.
The real issue, of course, is that no one makes smart phones in the U.S. I think that’s literally the case. As in, truly no one. But in any case, Trump Mobile is saying you can put down a $100 down payment today to get your T1 Trump phone in September. But no one makes any phones in the U.S. and the chances that you’re going to be able to stand up a new U.S. factory and get a new workable design in three months are nil. So it’s really just a question of what the trick (i.e., scam) is. Does the phone never appear? Do they import it from South Korea and the ‘manufacturing’ is putting the Trump sticker on it? As near as I can tell, none of the mainstream press coverage notes that the phone does not actually exist and barring some true miracle cannot, in fact, exist, certainly not in September 2025.
Just more of the endless Trump absurdity. Check out The Verge’s coverage here.
