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Trump Phone Live Q&A: First Impressions With CNET's Patrick Holland
PCMag / VideoElephant
A review of Donald Trump’s elusive mobile phone has come in and nothing about it sounds good.
From Bibles to meat, Trump has, at some time or another, attached his name to a seemingly endless array of products that he then sells to his supporters for profit.
One of the latest – the “T1™ Phone” – saw a reported 27,000 customers put down a $100 deposit after it was announced in June 2025. By eleven months later, none of the customers had received it, despite an initial launch date of September 2025.
A small number of the finalised gold-colored smartphones (critics noted the American flag on a limited number of demo units only had 11 stripes) appear to have begun being shipped as of late May 2026. But the reviews leave much to be desired.
One of the few people to get their hands on one is Patrick Holland, the managing editor of CNET, who regularly reviews smartphones.
Holland said on CNN: “First, it looks nothing like the original image that we saw about a year ago, which kind of looked like an altered iPhone 16 Pro.
“Next, the gold colour. In real life, it kind of varies depending on what lighting you’re in. Sometimes it looks like those gold coins that Scrooge McDuck would jump into for DuckTales.
“Other times, it’s got a mustard vibe to it, and yet other times it kind of looks like a urine sample.”
It comes as, according to a Guardian report, Trump Mobile, a phone company launched by Trump’s family, is “investigating a potential security flaw on its website that appears to have exposed the personal details of an estimated 27,000 people who sought to buy a gold-coloured smartphone”.
It is believed names and contact details have been exposed, but not banking or credit card information.
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