Trump's 'American' Smartphone Made in China

The new "All-American" smartphone offered by President Donald Trump's family is made in China.

According to Apple Insider, the newly founded Trump Mobile is offering a gold iPhone copycat for $499, even though the device's base model, minus the golden trim and Trump branding, is available on Amazon for only $169.

The president's sons announced the new phone, named "T1," with the promise that it would be built in the United States.  However, Eric Trump swiftly had to moderate expectations that the first Trump phones would be manufactured domestically. 

"Eventually, all phones can be built in the United States of America," the president's second-born son told Ben Shapiro, a conservative podcaster.  "We need to bring manufacturing back to America.  So, our mentality is "Built for America by Americans."  Make it cheaper.  "Do it better."

That fueled doubts that Trump Mobile could produce a smartphone in the United States by August, the shipment date guaranteed to individuals who preordered the gadget.  No major smartphone is built in the United States, a point raised recently when Trump threatened to put heavy tariffs on tech companies that make devices in Asia, including Apple. 

"The T1 phone may be modded in the USA," Apple Insider noted.  "It certainly wasn't designed or assembled in the U.S."

The Trump Organization, which is owned by the president but operated by his eldest sons, did not respond to a request for information on where the initial T1 phones are manufactured.

MAGA followers who buy the T1 may be unaware that they are acquiring a product manufactured abroad.  The Trump Organization's news release promoting the device stated that it was "designed and built in the United States," and the company's website boasts that it functions on "All-American Performance."

The Trump Organization informed The Wall Street Journal that "manufacturing for the new phone will be in Alabama, California, and Florida."  Not yet. 

"You can build these phones in the United States," Donald Trump Jr. told podcaster Benny Johnson Monday morning.  "Ultimately, all phones can be manufactured in the United States of America.  "We need to bring manufacturing back here."

The Journal was among those who questioned Trump Media's ability to produce a smartphone manufactured in the United States quickly.

"It's possible, even plausible, that these phones would initially come from China because, at that price point, only Chinese makers like Xiaomi and Oppo have the hardware to match," said the reporter. 

According to some sources, Trump Media's rollout was a failure.  404 Media stated that when they attempted to preorder the item, their reporter's card was undercharged for the $100 deposit.  The screen then displayed an error warning before allowing the user to provide an address for the product's eventual shipment.

"The website failed, went to an error page, and then charged my credit card the wrong amount of $64.70," 404 Media noted on its blog.  "I received a confirmation email stating that I would receive a confirmation after my product was dispatched, but I have not provided a shipping address or paid the entire $499 price tag.  It's the worst experience I've ever had purchasing consumer electronic goods, and I'm not sure when or how I'll get the phone." 

The Trump Media website, which froze on Monday during numerous visits by the Daily Beast, claims that the T1 would have a 6.8-inch display, which is slightly larger than the largest Apple iPhone yet.  It also has a dazzling AMOLED screen, a refresh rate of 120Hz, and a battery capacity that exceeds that of any iPhone.  Apple, which aims to release its iPhone 17 lineup in September, a month after the T1 is scheduled to ship to users, did not respond to a request for comment.

According to Tinglong Dai, a professor of operations management and business analytics at Johns Hopkins University, building the infrastructure required to create such a product in America would take at least five years. 

"There's no way you could make the screen, get that memory, camera, battery, everything" in America right now, he stated.