It’s been over two months since Trump Mobile announced the T1 Phone was being “Made in the USA” designed “with American values in mind,” and it seems that anyone deciding to preorder it still can’t be sure exactly what phone they might receive.
In posts on X and Instagram on Wednesday, the Trump Mobile account encouraged followers to place their preorder, promising them that “the wait is almost over.” This was joined by an image that looks nothing like the one of the T1 phone that’s currently on the Trump Mobile website. It instead looks rather suspiciously like the rear side of a Samsung Galaxy S25.
Not just that, it actually appears to be the back of a third-party S25 phone case from Spigen that has been Photoshopped gold and stamped with the T1 logo and trademark American flag. Still visible, just behind the flag, is the Spigen company logo.
Spigen’s social media account commented under the post on X with an apt “??? bro what,” before writing on its own page that it had a “lawsuit incoming.” WIRED has reached out to Spigen for comment.
This isn’t the first time that questions as to what the T1 Phone will actually turn out to be have been raised. Not long after it was announced in June, the specs of the phone changed on the Trump Mobile website, along with deleting claims that it would be made in the USA.
Currently, the Trump Mobile website claims the T1 Phone will have a 6.2-inch punch-hole AMOLED screen with 120 Hz refresh rate, 50 MP main camera with a 16 MP selfie camera, and a 5,000 mAh battery. There’s also 256 GB of internal storage, an in-screen fingerprint sensor and “AI face unlock.”
It’s priced at $499, which includes a $100 deposit that apparently covers shipping and handling as well as your first month of Trump Mobile service. This suggests buyers will be required to use Trump Mobile with their T1 Phone, with no clear details before you authorize payment of any ongoing commitment to the service.
Users can, at least, wait to receive the phone before activating the service, and can request a full refund “at any time prior to the shipment of the phone.”
As to what the phone will look like when (and if) that ever happens though, it’s currently impossible to know—and Trump Mobile seems as unsure as the rest of us. All of which isn’t helping to curb suspicions that, right now, the T1 Phone—initially pegged to arrive in August—probably doesn’t exist in any shape or form.
