The launch of a new smartphone has raised questions after experts noted similarities to Chinese devices and doubted US production capabilities
Trump Mobile has removed the ‘Made in the USA’ label for an upcoming smartphone from its website, sparking renewed speculation over whether the $499 T1 device is a rebranded Chinese model. Launched by the Trump Organization on June 16, the company now says the T1 phone is “designed with American values in mind.”
The change was first flagged by The Verge on Wednesday and confirmed through archived captures. The T1 8002 is currently described as “brought to life right here in the USA,” replacing earlier claims of domestic manufacturing. The phone’s specifications were also changed, including a screen size drop, and the September 2025 shipping date has also been removed.
The changes appear to have been made after industry analysts questioned whether the US has the capacity to produce the device. Todd Weaver, the CEO of US-based smartphone manufacturer Purism, told CNN last week that building a secure, scalable phone production line in the US would take years, and that even his company, which sells a $1,999 ‘Made in the USA’ phone, sources some components from abroad.
“Unless the Trump family secretly built out a secure, onshore or nearshore operation… it’s simply not possible. There are areas where you’re going to still need a global supply chain,” he said, citing a crystal in Purism’s GPS chip that is made in China.
Max Weinbach of Creative Strategies noted similarities between the T1 and the Revvl 7 Pro 5G, a $169 phone made by China’s Wingtech. “There are only four or five smartphone ODMs that could manufacture this – and they’re all in China,” he said, referring to ‘original device manufacturers’ – companies that design and make products based on the specifications of another company.
“It is likely that this device will be initially produced by a Chinese ODM,” Blake Przesmicki, an analyst at Counterpoint Research, told CNBC.
Eric Trump – who now co-leads the Trump Organization – effectively acknowledged that the phones are not currently made in the US. In an interview last week, he said, “eventually all the [Trump] phones will be built in the USA,” while avoiding any direct claim of domestic production.
Eric Trump: “Eventually all the Trump phones will be built in the USA.”Translation: They’re not built in America. And there’s no real plan to change that anytime soon.pic.twitter.com/A5xp7NkvPJ
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) June 16, 2025
Company spokesman Chris Walker, however, told USA Today on Wednesday that “the T1 phones are proudly being made in America,” and dismissed speculation to the contrary as “simply inaccurate.”
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The news comes amid President Donald Trump’s push to boost domestic manufacturing. Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on trading partners earlier this year, citing unfair trade imbalances and saying the move would provide an “incentive for re-shoring production to the US.” China was hit hardest, and the two sides engaged in a tit-for-tat tariff war that paused after a preliminary deal earlier this month until a final trade agreement, which is expected by August 10.
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