Trump Organization announces mobile plan, $499 smartphone

[gcode]

If this is even true, I can see this as laying the groundwork for a Tesla phone.

[YoDoug]

This could end up being a massive scam. The fact that the Trump org has a huge disclaimer that it is not their project, only licensing their name, is like a mobster introducing someone as a friend of mine versus a friend of ours. When shit goes south Trump org will claim they had nothing to do with it. If the mobile Co takes massive amounts of preorders with no specific dates I would be concerned. 

[gcode]

This could end up being a massive scam. The fact that the Trump org has a huge disclaimer that it is not their project, only licensing their name

This happened in Mexico 20/25 years ago.
Trump licensed his name to a condo development in Mexico that was being marketed to
American retirees. Other than his name on the billboards and advertising, he had nothing to do with it.
It was a total scam and people who bought into it took a 100% loss with zero recourse for recovery.
He was a private citizen then, he's a President now and I don't think this is appropriate.

[YoDoug]

More thoughts on this;

As to Musk being involved, This is not his MO. He is the brand. His ego would not let him stand by silently.

As for the T1 trump phone, it would take a 100 million to set up the American MFG chain to get this done. If there were already investors and potential ground breaking on a plant it would have been all over the news.

As for the Trump mobile service, Cell phone broadcast air space is one of the most heavily regulated areas in the world. You cannot just decide you are going to build a bunch of towers and start your own cell service. Smaller companies lease space on bigger companies networks. This has to be approved by the FCC. If trump mobile was legit this should be easy for an investigative journalist to find. My guess is this Trump name licensing deal was made on a "My dad controls the FCC" agreement.

IMO, here is what may most likely happen. Trump mobile will sign up customers with their own devices leasing space from one of the big carriers. They will take thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of preorders for the phones. They will kickback to execs and investors. Then they will file bankruptcy. A bigger carrier will buy the service contracts. Phone preorders will end up taking the haircut. Tech companies that don't already have well established mfg and sufficient capital that take preorders are just Ponzi schemes. 

[gcode]

I've got to agree.
This is a back street con and only a fool would climb on this train.
Modern cell phones are technological wonders, the epitome of modern manufacturing prowess.
An I-Phone or the latest from Samsung is so complex and has such a low failure rate, it is akin to magic.
You don't just wake up one morning and decide you're going to build cellphones. It's just not happening.
If they do come out with a Trump cellphone it will be a rebranded second or third tier phone,
maybe from India or Vietnam.... kind of like Sears Kenmore washers and dryers were really 2nd string Maytags.

I have to say I'm disappointed in Trump, allowing his name to be used like this.
I'm hoping its some kind of bad joke.

[neurosis]

They are not using T1 mobile, T1 mobile is licensing the Trump name.

Who exactly is T1 Mobile. Who owns it? I've never heard of it before.

[Jeff]

Who exactly is T1 Mobile. Who owns it? I've never heard of it before.

Could be a typo and they're referring to T-Mobile?

[YoDoug]

Who exactly is T1 Mobile. Who owns it? I've never heard of it before.

I found an article that had a picture from the press conference. It listed three guys in the picture as partners, that I have never heard. Don Hendrickson, Eric Thomas and Patrick O'Brien

https://nypost.com/2025/06/16/business/trump-family-unveils-mobile-service-plan-499-smartphone/

[gcode]

Could be a typo and they're referring to T-Mobile?

Could also be that scammers are trying to give themselves some legitimacy by confusing people with a name that is very close to an established and trusted brand... ie. T-Mobile becomes T1 Mobile

 

[CNCAppsJames]

Reliable Service is #1 Priority for me I don't care how good the price is. If the service is bad, it could be free and it woudl be unacceptable for me. 

A lot of our sales guys have AT&T and T-Mobile. Their calls cut out on me. I almost never lose a call. There's a few spots here and there West of the Rockies that re dead for me but not very many. 

I'm certain I have one fo the highest bills in here, and IDGAF... my service has been stellar since 1995. Started as LA Cellular, then a few other things that escape me, and it's been Verizon for a long time now. I use my phone as a HotSpot a lot also. 

[gcode]

Obama phone be cheaper.

cheaper for the end user
they cost the long suffering American taxpayers eleventy billion dollars

[Rstewart]

I travel to some weird places sometimes, Verizon has never let me down.  They always let my wallet down 

[mowens]

I have been with T-Mobile since 2002. I have had very few instances of dropped service. I haven't been to many weird places unless you count driving from Wichita to Minot N. Dakota.

[Incogneeto]

I can still remember the birth of Verizon and the $700 bills for going over.

Spectrum and verizon are and were notorious on outright Fucking their Customers. Never ,Never ,Never. Again.

[YoDoug]

We are sort of in a weird situation. Probably 10 years ago we added our family to my wife's parents account. We have paid the bill for nearly a decade. The account was in my wife's mom's name with my wife listed as an authorized user. The account was for ATT through a Walmart employee plan. MIL passed away two years ago. Although my wife is an authorized user we are kind of stuck. They won't let us make any major changes because she passed away. They say we would have to open a new account in one of our names, even though I can show the payment for the last decade came from my account. Not even sure how easily we could take our numbers with. To add more layers of difficulty, this covers 7 different family members in 3 different states so not easy for a smooth transition to a new carrier.