In the US, the direction of device manufacturing is changing. The government has pressured companies like Apple to manufacture their devices in an Intel-backed country that they want to turn into great American foundries, and to set an example, Donald Trump himself announced a mobile phone: the Trump Mobile T1.
The billionaire and president of the United States boasted that The T1 will be a 100% American device. Specifically, it was going to be a terminal “designed and built in the USA”, but this year they toned it down a bit more to match reality, changing it to “Proudly assembled in the USA”.
That promise ended up being a stretch because, to no one’s surprise, it wasn’t true.
A screenshot of the device’s website
When the mobile was launched we already said that the terminal was basically, an HTC U24 Pro, a 2024 model that became obsolete in 2025 and in 2026 when this Trump Mobile T1 was launched, It has specifications that are far from perfect According to the website, “top-notch performance without inflated prices.”
Again, we already told you all this at the time, but it’s interesting that, after publishing pufo, the page maintains that the design is American, that it was “developed by American innovation with the help of an American team that helps determine the design and quality for a device built with care and precision.”
It’s pretty funny unintentional comedy, like the flag is missing a bar, but it turns out that model has now fallen into the hands of YouTuber JerryRigEverything.
In a video that is pure fantasy and far from the tone of YouTubers who ‘dare’ to analyze the construction and repairability of mobile phones (in a much rougher way than iFixit, that’s true too) A magic trick is appearing before our eyes.
Because Jerry is showing off not only the Trump Mobile T1, but also the China-made HTC U24 Pro, not only are the internals like two drops of water, but he can swap out something as subtle as the motherboard and get the Trump Mobile T1 to boot like an HTC… and vice versa.
It’s not the first time someone has done this trick, as NBC also showed it, though perhaps not so directly, but the real magic of it all is that the device’s website indicates that it’s a proudly American product… when it’s proudly made in Guangdong, China.
Ultimately, one of those responsible for Trump Mobile T1 admitted to The Verge, “If we did it in the US, it would be much more expensive.”. And if the proudly American mobile phone can’t even be made in the USA, how do they expect Apple to do the same without raising the price of the iPhone (even more).
However, if not purchased with a data plan, the beast costs $749.
Picture | JerryRig Everything
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