In a surprising turn of events, the Trump Mobile T1 smartphone might actually start rolling out.
On Tuesday, Trump Mobile CEO Pat O'Brien told USA Today that the golden phones will start shipping to customers who've pre-ordered them "this week."
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It's good news for buyers, but the Trump Organization-licensed company sure did test their patience before it got to this point. The phone was originally announced in June 2025 by the U.S. president's sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., with a planned launch in September, but the launch date kept moving into the future.
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To make matters worse, Trump Mobile's terms and conditions changed in April 2026 to say that the $100 pre-order deposit does not guarantee customers will actually get the phone, prompting some to call the entire scheme a "scam".
Besides the launch date, the original promise of the phone being made in America was changed, too, with the company now calling it an "American-proud design."
In his interview this week, O'Brien said that the first T1 phones were "assembled in the United States," while new models will use components that were "primarily manufactured in America."
Despite reports that roughly 600,000 people paid the $100 deposit for the T1 phone, O'Brien wouldn't confirm the exact number of pre-orders. Instead, he said that Trump Mobile is "incredibly pleased" with the interest in its products.