The Trump phone is not here

Where’s the Trump phone? We’re going to keep talking about it every week. We’ve reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump phone’s whereabouts. It’s now been more than a week since Trump Mobile announced that phones would “start shipping this week.”

Last week Trump Mobile announced that the T1 Phone was ready to start shipping by the end of the week. Almost two weeks later, there’s no sign that’s actually happened — and the company still hasn’t shipped either of the two phones ordered by The Verge.

Depending on where you get your news, you might believe the company when it says the phone has now launched: The phone is “here” according to Newsweek, has “finally released” according to The Daily Beast, and is now “shipping” according to Reuters.

None of this appears to be true. Neither of The Verge’s two ordered phones have shipped and for the moment can’t — Trump Mobile still hasn’t asked for our shipping address and hasn’t charged us beyond the initial $100 deposits. Beyond us, I can’t find a single regular buyer claiming to have received a phone or even an email confirming their phone is ready to ship or that the company intends to charge them for the remaining $399 after their deposit. The company’s promised wide rollout doesn’t seem to have yet begun.

At least two phones have gone out, though not through normal channels. Both NBC and CNET have received T1 Phones; the former said that it received its phone following an email from the company promising “devices were going out to the media,” while CNET says its order was “expedited” by Trump Mobile, “because we are cnet.com.” I’ve reached out to Trump Mobile for the umpteenth time and have now been told that we’ll have our own order expedited, though at the time of writing there’s been no change to our order status.

The good news is that both the phones sent to NBC and CNET match what was in the company’s latest promo video. Each shipped with a braided USB-C cable, a wall charger, and a plastic case, and looks identical to the latest advertised design — 11-stripe US flag included. You also get two unusual preinstalled apps: Trump’s social network Truth Social; and Doctegrity, the telehealth service included with Trump Mobile plans. Neither NBC or CNET has yet reviewed the phone, though NBC at least “tested its basic features, such as calling, texting, browsing the internet and taking photos, all of which functioned normally.” It’s a low bar, but the Trump phone clears it.

The Trump phone’s release isn’t the only unsubstantiated claim I’ve seen reported recently. Plenty of outlets are still repeating that 590,000 buyers preordered the phone, which I explained in January was unevidenced — and this week’s leak of customer data suggests that at most 30,000 phones were ordered. Others say the phone is based on the $250 T-Mobile Revvl 7 Pro 5G — we considered the same back when the T1 was first announced, but the latest version of the phone doesn’t match the Revvl at all. Some publications are even reporting that the phone is made in China — it might well be, but we don’t know, and if anything the available evidence suggests that Taiwan is more likely.

All that noise aside, Trump Mobile seems to have gotten what it wanted. By announcing a plan to ship the phones and sending two out to the media, the impression has been generated that the phone is here, buyers are satisfied, and the whole thing is wrapped up. Nothing to see here, folks.

Over 11 months covering this company, I’ve learned not to take Trump Mobile at its word. This is a company that’s missed every deadline it’s ever set, changed its phone’s design and specs multiple times, and fibbed about where it’s built.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll said it again: I’ll believe the Trump phone is here not only when the two models that The Verge bought are in our hands, but when plenty of other buyers also have their own. Until then, the Trump phone has not been released, it has not shipped, and it is not here.

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