Critics have labeled Donald Trump’s telecommunications venture, Trump Mobile, as a ‘scam’ and have made claims that the company is distributing refurbished phones.
Supporters were eagerly anticipating the release of a golden ‘T1’ smartphone, which Trump Mobile had marketed as being crafted for ‘real Americans’.
The phone company was launched earlier this year by The Trump Organization, currently managed by Donald Trump’s sons, Don Jr. and Eric.
Despite promises, the company has not yet delivered the ‘golden phone’, and instead, it is accused of selling refurbished Apple or Samsung devices from previous years at a high premium.
The Independent reported that one particular phone was being sold for $225 more than its price on Amazon.
Initially, the company had boasted that the phones would be ‘MADE in America’, but experts pointed out that the necessary manufacturing facilities were nonexistent.
Back in June, the company announced that the ‘T1 Phone’ would be ready by August, with a phone plan costing $47.45 monthly. They promised that the initiative would include call centers based in the United States and domestically manufactured phones.
Among the phones listed for sale are Samsung’s S23 and S24 models, along with Apple’s iPhone 15 and 16.
The company also offers a Trump-branded SIM-only phone plan.
A critic of the venture criticized it, stating: “Trump Mobile ended up being so much of a scam that it even scammed the NBC news station out of their money. They ordered a phone and paid the required $100 deposit, but the company keeps changing the release date now. You can’t make this s*** up.”
This criticism was shared alongside screenshots of an NBC News article titled: ‘The Trump mobile phone is nowhere to be found after months of delay’.
The screenshot further claimed: “Trump Mobile has posted conflicting photos of the phone and scrubbed mentions of its ‘Made In The USA’ promise.”
NBC stated that they had paid a $100 deposit for a phone, which was intended to help them monitor the progress of the $499 Trump phone.
After that, not much transpired.
They reportedly received ‘no proactive updates’ regarding their order, prompting them to make five separate calls between September and November to inquire about the device’s status.
They were initially given a delivery date of November 13, which was subsequently postponed to early December.
As of today (December 6), the phone has still not been delivered.
Requests for comment have been sent to Trump Mobile.