'Made in USA' claim dropped from Trump smartphone marketing

Just days after its grand announcement, the “Made in the USA” claim for the new Trump T1 smartphone has mysteriously vanished from the Trump Mobile website.

The promotional tagline, initially featured prominently for the device launched on June 16, was no longer visible as of Wednesday, raising immediate questions about the phone’s production origins.

Despite the removal, a spokesperson for Trump Mobile insisted to the BBC that the phone will still be manufactured in America, dismissing “speculation to the contrary [as] simply inaccurate.”

The company stated, “We’re excited to launch the phones later this year,” while encouraging consumers to switch to Trump Mobile with their current devices.

The website’s updated wording now describes the T1 phone as boasting an “American-Proud Design” and being “brought to life right here in the USA,” with “American hands behind every device.”

However, a banner that previously invited pre-orders for “our MADE IN THE USA T1 Phone” now simply refers to it as “the new T1 phone.” These subtle but significant changes were first reported by tech news publisher The Verge.

The initial promise of a US-made smartphone had already drawn scepticism from industry experts. Professor Tinglong Dai of Johns Hopkins’ Carey Business School called the prospect “extremely unlikely,” given the lack of a working prototype and the complex supply chain required for smartphone manufacturing.

Leo Gebbie, an analyst at CCS Insight, reiterated that the US “simply does not have the high-tech supply chain” for full smartphone assembly, suggesting that assembling imported parts in the US might be the most feasible way to claim American production.

This incident echoes past doubts about President Donald Trump’s calls for Apple to shift iPhone production to the US, a notion tech analysts have largely dismissed as unfeasible.