Trump family business delays launch of $499 gold smartphone
Trump Mobile, the phone company launched by Donald Trump’s family business, has pushed back plans to deliver a $499 gold-coloured smartphone by the end of the year.
The T1 smartphone, described by the company as “proudly American”, was initially promoted as a US-made rival to devices from Apple and Samsung. Almost all smartphones sold in the US are made overseas, primarily in China and South Korea but also increasingly in India and Vietnam.
It remains unclear who could manufacture the T1 handset, given the low levels of domestic smartphone production in the US.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/31/trump-family-business-delays-launch-of-gold-smartphoneOpen linkView original on lemmy.world237
Comments32
The grift is so real
I struggle not to blame the victims. It’s extremely well-documented that he’s a con artist and grifter. When doing business with such a person, should we not expect to get scammed?
I just saw Wicked 2. There was a line in that [paraphrased]:
it was never intended to ship, only receive prepayments.
Let’s face it, we’ve all had that thought that if we abandoned our morals or internal sense of justice we could make so much fucking money.
I'm remembering that $999 app for the iPhone that had no purpose other than to show others you could afford it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Rich
It was removed almost immediately, but even in that short time, six people bought it.
When I wonder just who in the fuck would fall for one of Donvict's many ridiculous grifts, I remember this.
The complaint outlined on that wiki is funny.
"I clicked buy thinking it was a joke".
Salesmen must absolutely love them.
You can say that again. I'm sure a whole lot of industries are buttressed by terrible and rash decisions made by people...
The weirdest part is people who think that disregarding or not having any code of ethics in order to make money are super smart or better people. I've genuinely run into people like this, who think they're grinding and being really clever, and people who aren't just haven't thought about what they're doing or couldn't pull it off and are inferior and don't deserve wellness in society.
PT Barnum may not have actually said it, but the quote commonly attributed to him is very true.
This way to the
egressfreedom!Stupid moral parents!
Do you think you will be able to uninstall the Burger King app from Trump phones?
Constant ticker of how much the trumpcoin/melaniacoin is trading at...
Imagine seeing this every time you unlocked your phone lol. So useful, such value.
No, that is actually one of the most important features.
To invoke the AI system you say "OK, Hamburder..." Then speak your question.
It mostly shouts back deranged crap about "sleepy Joe," but sometimes that is the actual answer to my question.
Isn't he a McD guy?
Doesn’t it seems a little preemptive to call this a “smart” phone?
Bet they'll issue refunds to the suckers who bought, right? RIGHHHHTTT????
WHAT! You mean I have to wait even longer to not buy it?
LOL. I was so looking forward to see who might be carrying these around....
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The Hogfather is grifting the same people who send their Social Security check to Joel Oafsteen and Kenneth Crapland.
Who in the entire fuck is going to buy those?
Whatever you think about Trump this is a genius marketing idea.
Grifting vulnerable people is not "genius", it's just immoral. Most of us won't do it because it's wrong and hurts others. I'm sick of pretending it's because we don't have brilliant galaxy-brains...
Yup, sell something for preorder, collect money, fail to deliver.
I'm starting to think that grifting Americans is really easy, actually