Trump’s impossible smartphone: Why no one believes it can be made in the US at that price

Two of Donald Trump’s sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, unveiled the Trump 1 on Monday — a new gold-plated mobile phone set to launch in September. The announcement took place at Trump Tower in New York, exactly 10 years after the 2015 launch of Trump’s first presidential campaign.

The brothers revealed that the device will retail for $499, will offer technical specifications comparable to the latest iPhone, and will be designed and manufactured entirely in the United States. However, experts agree that delivering on all three promises within the stated timeframe is highly unlikely. Here are the keys to understanding the launch.

1. Why a cell phone?

In an interview with Fox News, Eric Trump described the new cell phone as the third pillar of his family’s tech platform, aimed at “correcting” problems.

The first pillar was the Truth Social network, intended to “correct freedom of speech.” The second was the move into the cryptocurrency space, as Erick Trump claimed that financial institutions were “debanking all conservatives.” “I was the most canceled person probably in the history of the country,” he added.

Now, the goal is to “revolutionize” the cell phone industry — one whose supply chain has been optimized over the past 15 years. “Real estate has always been our bread and butter,” Eric Trump said, “I really believe we are going to have one of the great tech platforms as part of the Trump Organization of any company in the world.”

When discussing how the product would be “Made in the USA,” Trump clarified that the focus was on customer service centers, not on component manufacturing or assembly. “We’re doing it all here in the United States,” he said. “You’re not calling up call centers in Bangladesh, you’re doing it right out of St. Louis, Missouri.”

2. But it’s not just a cell phone

When you enter the Trump Mobile website, the first product on offer isn’t the phone, but a monthly call and data plan priced at $47.45 — a symbolic reference to Donald Trump’s presidencies as the 45th and 47th president of the United States (Joe Biden was the 46th).

The so-called Plan 47, available only in the U.S., is a mobile virtual network: it can be used with any device, and coverage is provided by existing carriers. This service is far more feasible than the phone itself, but the launch likely wouldn’t have drawn as much attention without the flashy gold handset.

One small indication of the plan’s intended audience is that it includes free international calls to over 100 countries — promoted on the website as a service for families of military personnel stationed abroad.

3. Why a launch this soon is impossible

Because no one manufactures a phone with the features promised by the T1 in the United States. And building the infrastructure to do so can’t be done in a matter of months. It’s not a question of money. One of Trump’s most persistent battles since returning to the White House has been pressuring Apple to manufacture its phones in the U.S.

The T1 will be an Android phone, with features comparable to a high-end iPhone. For example, it promises an AMOLED display, a technology that no one currently manufactures in the U.S. — and the same goes for the type of camera system it advertises. It’s hard to draw solid conclusions from the images that have been released, which are renderings or mockups rather than actual product photos.

There are Chinese smartphones with similar capabilities available for $300–$400. The most plausible option is that such models are imported, coated in gold in a U.S. facility, and marketed as American-made.

Tech market experts have even pointed to specific Chinese brands — ones not sold commercially in the U.S. — as potential manufacturers behind the device.

4. What the president’s family hopes to achieve with this questionable initiative?

The most likely answer is the simplest one: to make money. Although the phone is not yet available, the website offered users in the U.S. the option to reserve a device for a $100 deposit. One U.S. journalist attempted to do so, but the website crashed and charged him the wrong amount.

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