The Website for Trump's All-American Smartphone No Longer Guarantees It's 'MADE IN THE USA'

Earlier this month, the Trump Organization revealed its latest profit-making scheme: the T1, a golden iPhone knockoff that has aptly been dubbed the “Trump phone.” Alongside the new device, the Trumps launched a wireless mobile network called T1 Mobile, which purports to offer unlimited talk, text, and data. Given that Trump is the “America First” president, it was very on-brand for the company to promise that the devices would be manufactured domestically. Given that manufacturing a functioning modern smartphone in the US is prohibitively expensive, that always seemed like a lofty promise.

Now, it would appear that the Trumps may have gone back on that promise. The Verge first spotted the organization behind the phone, Trump Mobile, has now been “scrubbed of all language indicating the phone is to be made in the USA.” A large website banner that previously stated “MADE IN THE USA” has now been replaced with decidedly more vague language. “Premium Performance. Proudly American,” the site now states.

The Wayback Machine shows the site’s original language, however:

The site now also states that the phones have been “brought to life right here in the USA” and that “American hands” are “behind every device,” language that typically indicates a device was assembled, rather than manufactured, in the U.S.

After the media noticed the changes on the Trump Mobile site, a spokesperson for the company told USA Today that “T1 phones are proudly being made in America” and “speculation to the contrary is simply inaccurate.”

Eric Trump, the president’s son, previously hinted that the devices might not actually be made domestically. During an interview earlier this month, the younger Trump noted that “eventually [emphasis added] all the phones will be built in the United States.” Earlier this month, commentators predicted that the phone would probably be made in China. Gizmodo reached out to Trump Mobile for more information.

It is, of course, still possible that the Trump phones will “eventually” be manufactured in America, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. There are very few phones that are actually made in the U.S. because it is so damn expensive to do that. Purism, which Gizmodo previously reviewed, is one such company, but it is the outlier, not the norm. And despite that company’s decade-long effort to bring its Liberty Phone to the mainstream, it still retails for $2,000. Purism founder Todd Weaver recently told the Wall Street Journal, “Even if the specs were less impressive, it would take many, many years to be fully sourced out of the U.S. and not practical.” He explained that we just don’t “have factories here building application processors, high-end displays, or most of the other things in your smartphone.”

It is much more cost-efficient to make stuff in Asia, where there are limited to no labor laws and people are willing to work in slavish working conditions because they have no choice. It seems likely that’s the sort of worker Trump values, not the kind who is used to air conditioning, decent wages, and consistent lunch breaks.