Trump Builds a Phone: Profiteering, Controversy, and Political-Business Relations

Author: Ethan, Odaily Daily Planet

On June 16, 2025, U.S. President Trump officially announced the launch of his mobile communication brand Trump Mobile, simultaneously unveiling its first smartphone T1 and the accompanying “The 47 Plan” communication package. Trump boldly declared in the announcement: “Trump Mobile will use ‘Made in America’ phones and services,” emphasizing that the package will provide services such as roadside assistance and unlimited texting. The emergence of the T1 phone has caused a stir in public opinion.

In fact, this is not the first time Trump has ventured into merchandise sales. Previously, he opened the “Trump Store” on Amazon, selling products including red baseball caps, T-shirts, and mugs, which performed impressively in sales, leading netizens to jokingly refer to him as “mainly selling goods, secondarily a president.” The launch of the smartphone seems more like a new site in his “traffic monetization” business system.

The release of the T1 smartphone coincides with the tenth anniversary of Trump’s announcement of his first presidential campaign, and its political symbolism is self-evident. This is not just a product launch, but a self-coronation ceremony for the “brand president.”

Product Overview and “Patriotism” Marketing

T1 Phone: “US Version 8848”?

Trump Mobile Official Website:

T 1 mobile pricing is 499 USD (approximately 3580 CNY), expected to be released in September 2025. The device features a metallic brushed metal body with an engraving of the American flag pattern on the back, and incorporates Trump’s campaign slogan “Make America Great Again” on the screen.

In terms of configuration, the T1 features a 6.8-inch AMOLED punch-hole display, a 120 Hz refresh rate, a 5000 mAh battery, 12 GB + 256 GB storage, and runs on the Android 15 system, while also unusually retaining a 3.5 mm headphone jack. Overall, its hardware specifications are at a higher mid-range level.

Upon closer inspection of its appearance, some netizens pointed out that the T 1 is very similar to the lens layout of the iPhone 14 Pro series, with the arrangement of the three-camera module being identical. Therefore, it was jokingly referred to as the “political version of 8848,” implying that it has a “luxurious exterior but mediocre core.”

「The 47 Plan」: The Political Metaphor of Communication Packages

Trump Mobile has launched a communication plan called “The 47 Plan,” with a monthly fee of $47.45, featuring unlimited calls, texts, and high-speed data, along with additional services like international calls, roadside assistance, and telemedicine. The mobile service name “The 47 Plan” and the monthly price of $47.45 both allude to Trump: he was the 45th president and is now the 47th.

The naming method of “digital symbolic politics” has long been seen in products surrounding Trump (such as hats and sneakers) and is a hallmark strategy of his personal brand narrative.

Trump Mobile Official Website:

Who will foot the bill?

The core users of Trump Mobile target middle-aged and elderly conservative voters, veterans, and their families, among other staunch supporters of the conservative camp. They generally attach great importance to the symbolic meaning of “Made in America,” conservative values, and a focus on national security. This demographic has a high level of identification with Trump and represents a typical “emotional brand” consumer group.

It is foreseeable that Trump Mobile will subsequently launch more accessories with the “Loyalist Logo”, such as watches, headphones, T-shirts, or “Presidential Certification” limited packaging, forming a “brand merchandise matrix” to achieve continuous monetization through political identification.

Controversy Focus: The Truth and Cost-performance Dilemma of ‘Made in America’

Is “Made in America” justifiable?

Despite the Trump father and son repeatedly emphasizing that the T1 is “designed and manufactured in the United States,” it quickly faced multiple challenges. Apple Insider analyst Max Weinbach pointed out that the T1 is actually very similar to T-Mobile’s REVVL 7 Pro, which is produced by the Chinese ODM manufacturer Wingtech, with production likely located in Jiaxing, Wuxi, or Kunming.

Professor Dai Tinglong from the Carey Business School of Johns Hopkins University pointed out that most of the components used in T1 cannot be manufactured domestically in the United States, and the U.S. currently lacks the capability to establish a complete smartphone industry chain. He stated, “It may take more than five years of infrastructure development to manufacture such products in the U.S.”

In addition, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations regarding “Made in USA,” products must be “fully or substantially” assembled and manufactured in the United States, and T1 clearly struggles to meet this standard.

Is the brand premium reasonable?

The pricing for T 1 is $499, which is generally a premium of over $150 compared to other Android devices with similar configurations on the market (such as Pixel 7 a and Moto Edge). More importantly, most of its value-added services can be provided by market MVNOs (virtual operators) at lower prices.

This premium is obviously not paid for performance, but for brand, belief, and identity. From the perspective of “cost-performance ratio,” this strategy is not reasonable; however, from the logic of “tribal consumption,” its pricing may actually strengthen brand loyalty. This kind of positioning is reminiscent of Apple’s early “Think Different” differentiation strategy and has considerable reference value.

Where is the boundary between politics and business?

Trump is currently both the sitting President of the United States and the symbolic owner of Trump Mobile, with his family business constantly using his political identity in the promotion of the phone, triggering widespread discussions about the “blurring of lines between politics and business.”

In 2024, his personal income will reach $600 million, which will come from a variety of channels, including golf courses, brand licensing, and cryptocurrency. D.A. Davidson analyst Jill Luria sees the Trump Mobile launch as another prime example of its “use of political capital for business monetization” after the company launched a series of consumer-facing commercial products, first on the social media platform Truth and then on cryptocurrencies to promote the president and his wife.

NBC commented that Trump Mobile is becoming the latest link in Trump’s “family business machine,” continuing its pattern of transforming political influence into retail profitability. In this narrative of “the presidency as a brand,” the boundary between public roles and private interests is increasingly blurred.

Deeper Commercial Logic: Web3 Economic Experiments and “Traffic Gold Mining”

Trump’s mobile phone is not just a simple communication terminal; it may be a precursor to a larger “Web3+ political economy” experiment. Crypto investor Mark Cuban stated on the X platform that Trump Mobile could come pre-installed with a crypto wallet supporting TRUMP Meme coin, stablecoin USD1, and family-related project WLFI. He speculated: “This phone earns fees through wallet transactions and can preload any content they want to sell.”

This strategy of “hardware as a wallet” and “mobile as an entry point” is the key to the resurgence of the Solana Saga phone: Initially priced high with poor sales, the Saga quickly sold out as users received the BONK token as an airdrop, which provided value far exceeding that of the phone itself. If Trump Mobile replicates this model and launches a similar reward mechanism like “buy a phone and get MAGA coins” or “airdrop DJT stocks,” its phone will no longer just be a terminal but will become an “identity token” and “access pass.”

Under this mechanism, consumers are transformed into participants, investors, and even evangelists, evolving from “presidential fans” to “economic stakeholders,” forming a self-driven, fission-like traffic structure.

Conclusion: Political Tool or Market Newcomer?

The birth of Trump Mobile is the latest practice of Trump commercializing the “traffic-brand-asset” pathway.

If it only stays at the level of “private label phones + conservative audience”, it may not escape the fate of being a “flash in the pan”.

However, if it continues to promote the integration with the Web3 economic model, pushing for DJT share airdrops, launching MAGA tokens and other equity assets, Trump Mobile is very likely to build a “closed economic ecosystem” that integrates politics, business, finance, and community.

In this process, the mobile phone has become a “mobile identity tag”, political opinions have turned into assets, votes have been converted into tokens, and consumers have been integrated into a new round of narrative system of the Trump brand.

This is certainly not a substitute for the iPhone, but rather an ambassador of a value system. The development of Trump Mobile will depend on whether it has truly made that “golden call to the new world.”