Trump Mobile T1 Phone: Affordable iPhone alternative or made-in-USA dream?

Forget Apple—Trump Mobile wants to bring phone manufacturing back home. The T1 might look the part, but can it live up to the claim?

Trump Mobile T1 Phone / Image Credit: Sky News

When President Trump pushed Apple to build iPhones in the US, my first thought was—how? Apple won’t jump in because the country lacks the factories, skilled engineers, and local suppliers. And now here we are. The Trump family plans to launch a mobile network, Trump Mobile, along with a branded phone called the T1, which they claim will be made in America. If the President’s family pulls off a Made-in-the-USA Trump Mobile T1 Phone—not just something from China with “Designed by Trump Mobile in California” stamped on the box—it could be a hit.

We don’t have much on the phone just yet. Still, some T1 specs grabbed my eye and go beyond what the latest iPhone packs. For Trump, a top-notch smartphone made in the United States would be a major win. It would back up his tariff strategy and his promise to revive US manufacturing jobs. Like I said, though, the big question is whether this project can happen.

T1 Phone vs iPhone

The T1 ($499) packs a 6.8-inch screen, up there with Apple’s iPhone 16 Pro Max, which starts at $1,199. What’s more, you get an AMOLED display that should look bright and smooth thanks to a 120 Hz refresh rate. Screen resolution? Not mentioned, so that’s still a mystery.

Apple usually skips RAM details, but teardowns show their top phones use 8 GB. The T1 lists 12 GB of RAM. I’d say apps don’t need that much, unless you’re into emulation or heavier games. In that case, more RAM can help keep things running smoother.

The 16 Pro Max starts at 256 GB, which matches the Trump phone. But the T1 adds a microSD slot. That’s something iPhones never had, even though a lot of Android phones do. If you like keeping photos on your phone instead of in the cloud, the extra space might come in handy. Personally, I use Google Drive, so it doesn’t matter much to me.

The T1 features a 50 MP main camera, two other rear lenses, and a 16 MP front camera. iPhones top out at 48 MP and use sensors from Sony. The catch? No ultrawide on the T1.  iPhones include one, and I use it a lot on my iPhone 15 Pro. It’s awesome for filming in tight spots or grabbing wide shots indoors.

Can Trump Mobile make the T1 Phone in the US?

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook explained why the company leans hard on China, during a Fortune event in 2017. And no, it’s not about cheap labor.

“China stopped being the low labor cost country many years ago,” Cook said. “The reason is because of the skill and the quantity of skill in one location.”

Right now, India stands as the biggest push to move iPhone production out of China. That shift didn’t happen overnight—it took 10 years. There’s talk about the gold-colored T1 Phone, which could ship in August for $499. Trump Mobile claims it will be made in the United States, but something about that doesn’t sit right with some experts.

“There is no way the phone was designed from scratch and there is no way it is going to be assembled in the U.S. or completely manufactured in the U.S.,” says Francisco Jeronimo, vice president of IDC EMEA. “The Tl Phone is positioned in the fastest-declining price segment in the U.S. smartphone market ($400- $600) – down 32.3% in 2023 and 28.6% in 2024 to represent just 4.8% of total sales.”

At $499, the T1 likely runs a MediaTek chip, which would come out of Taiwan. If it uses a Qualcomm processor instead, that also means Taiwan. Given that price, I don’t see how Trump Mobile pulls off full US production for the T1.

Parting thoughts

So, where does that leave me? I’m intrigued, no doubt. The T1 offers some solid features for the price, and the idea of a phone made in the US has a certain appeal. But I’ve got questions—big ones—about how real that claim is. If the Trump family proves me wrong, I’ll be the first to give them credit. Until then, I’m watching this one with a raised eyebrow and a bit of curiosity.