I Tried Pre-Ordering the Trump Phone. The Page Failed and It Charged My Credit Card the Wrong Amount
(www.404media.co)
from some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org to technology@lemmy.world on 16 Jun 2025 18:32
https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/36832835
from some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org to technology@lemmy.world on 16 Jun 2025 18:32
https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/36832835
The website failed, went to an error page, and then charged my credit card the wrong amount of $64.70. I received a confirmation email saying Iāll receive a confirmation when my order has been shipped, but I havenāt provided a shipping address or paid the full $499 price tag. It is the worst experience Iāve ever faced buying a consumer electronic product and I have no idea whether or how Iāll receive the phone.
I look forward to learning more about how terrible these phones turn out.
threaded - newest
Itās like that Trump watch with the T missing. āI was expecting something with the integrity of the Presidentā. Yeah, you got that.
Even as a ālets see what this grift is all aboutāā¦why the hell would anyone order this horseshitā¦beyond stupid.
Journalism budget.
This person buying it might convince persuade others to not to buy it.
Youtubers going for content.
Conceptually, it'll make one f of a collectors item one day there's no way enough will sell to make them common.
In much the same way that Confederate memorabilia is collectable.
As in, āYou should avoid anyone who collects this shit. Theyāre probably a white nationalist.ā
Or you can spray paint your old iPhone with gold coloring, slap a Trump logo on it and sell it on ebay to some unsuspecting MAGA fan for $2,000.
Itās not hard to copy Trumpās signature ā¦ you could throw that on the phone and charge $5,000 and tell everyone that you bought it at a MAGA rally where Trump signed it in 2024.
If they can grift ā¦ we can all grift harder
He did gut any dept of gov that would go after grifters or hold them accountable.
In that case, someone should come out with a quality phone and just slap Trump logos all over the damned thing and charge $2,000 for a $500 phone. Run the business until someone tells you to stop.
Sell Trump crap ā¦ itās all crap anyway ā¦ make money on it if people are dumb enough to pay for this shit.
Something tells me that wonāt stop someone from getting in trouble for misusing his name. Straight to deportation with you!
Sounds like an easy way out of this hell hole.
As much of a hell hole as this country is and will become, there are other levels to hell that are worse.
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Not where I was going for that, more like museum pieces. He's really done a bunch of shit we absolutely should NOT have allowed. A president, releasing a phone, while in office for a grift. Our great grandkids (hopefully) will be walking through the Smithsonian going what the FUCK was going on in the 20's, and one of these e-waste POS will be sitting there staring back at them.
Yeah, I guarantee the people who collect it will also have a sizeable collection of nazi memorabilia too.
Def seems to be a crossover between the two.
And claim theyāre just history buffs
āI just find the civil war fascinating.ā
IDK about that, the Saudis have like a million units sitting in a warehouse somewhere.
To rip it apart on a software and hardware level to find the backdoors and spyware. We need to know how hardcore we are being spied on when the guy near us has one.
Most low cost phone resellers have no idea what software is even running on their phones. They just compile some samples from the manufacturers SDK, slap their own logo on top and ship it.
Iām positively surprised itās supposed to come out with android 15. Barely one major version behind.
Journalism doing things the right way would try this out. You investigate one thing, learn about another, and inform.
For the same reason they put bandages on their ears: theyāre fucking morons.
ā¦because the author is an investigative journalist?
We all know itās a scam, but itās their job is to prove it. To prove it you have to (attempt to) buy it.
I agree any actual people trying to buy it are morons.
It seems a lot of people have forgotten that proper journalism is more than repeating what someone tweets
Well hopefully he does a charge back on his card if heās smart. I wouldnāt give his ass a dime.
Let me guess. Itās a rebranded Chinese phone that typically goes for like 50 bucks?
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Yep, apparently itās a cosmetically tweaked Wingtech REVVL 7 Pro 5G, which goes for $170 under the T-Mobile brand on Amazon.
Eric Trump admitted it was going to be made in China, so the press releaseās description, ādesigned and built in the United States,ā is just a lie, or actually two lies.
āEventuallyā: Eric Trump admits new mobile phone isnāt being made in the USA
But itās golden and has a convicted felonās name on it. That should make up for the rest of the value right?
He saw the Escobar phone and thought it was a good plan.
Thereās a disposable vape with that name.
The Escobar Phone is a weird name for a vape
I think theyāre called elfbars or something?
Well, of course! How else would it sell in this day and age?
Only if the value goes so far below zero that you get an integer overflow.
You can even buy a refurb for about $80, which is hilarious lol
The Revvl is the cheapest phone T-Mobile offers last time I was in need of a replacement; they basically give it away free if you do 2 year contracts instead of normal month-to-month, contractless services. Itās what my dad uses. š¤£
The first thing that stood out to me is that the T from the phone logo in the thumbnail looks suspiciously similar to the T from T-Mobile. Like, almost identical to my untrained eye.
Not quite, but relatively close.
T-Mobile logo
It would have to be super tweaked considering the phone you referenced has four cameras, and a notch style front camera.
My bet is that this is a 10 second photoshop job and the actual phone will look nothing like that.
I mean if you do a difference blend of two of the cameras, you get a perfectly black circle (minus some blending at the edges):
<img alt="" src="https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/47611f54-7676-49c9-97c3-57311524ed72.png">.
This means that the cameras are exact pixel-perfect copies of each other arranged in that order by photoshop. They donāt exist on any phone.
Yes, I wouldnāt assume the picture has anything to do with the phone (if any) people will actually receive.
And theyāll ironically lose the lawsuit about the lies and deception of this, the defense of which will be funded by donations from the idiots that buy this phone and receive messages every hour asking for more money for the legal defense fund.
Daily reminder, Jimmy Carter willingly sold his peanut farm because his morality told him of his own viewpoints that it may be seen as unfair for a President to own business interests while serving the most important role of government. Which in his mind may come off as corrupt.
We now have a president who seeās his name as a brand. Thatās where weāve gone.
People are forgetting too that this is just a job that he can be fired from. The SCOTUS and Republicans can fire him at any moment, but they arenāt. These middle managers suck.
FTFY
Whoās going to sit in 15 hours worth of meetings each week if not the middle managers?
Theyāre complicit. You donāt fire a boss because some people donāt like them, you fire a boss when you donāt like them.
What a state of affairs weāre inā¦
And it would just be Jimmyās Peanuts in the end. Nothing more, nothing less. Opposed to this cheap gold platted shit Trump keeps trying to sellā¦
and that's why president carter was the last great and decent president the us has had.
Itās much worse than that, heās actively exploiting his position in government for personal gain. They have a gold Trump credit card that advertises that itās āan official website of the US governmentā.
Worse than that, heās hosting $1M a plate dinners for āaccessā and attendees get things like pardons for their family members or government approval of business deals after paying these bribes.
Land of the free!*
* but only if youāre rich enough
Well, that and he was complying with the Emoluments Clause. You know, that thing that shouldāve seen Trump impeached on Inauguration Day ā 2017, not even just 2025!
Never ceases to embarrass this nation
This is what a software developer would call a con-action error.
Imagine if earlier fascists were as corrupt with conflicts of interests. Maybe we could call via the Adolfone.
The MussoliniPad, doesnāt get WiFi at gas stations
The Francoin is doing poorly in the crypto markets.
Weird. Mussoliniās greatest achievement was at a gas station.
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It's the #FascistPhone .
The US is a failed state. Thereās no other way to put it.
Itās not for lack of a better term. Itās just accurate.
Failing, not failed. Donāt give up! Things could get a lot worse, weāre nowhere near the bottom. They could also get better.
Pessimist: Itās all terrible.
Optimist: But it might be even more terrible tomorrow!
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www.404media.co I Tried Pre-Ordering the Trump Phone. The Page Failed and It Charged My Credit Card the Wrong Amount Joseph Cox 4 - 5 minutes
On Monday the Trump Organization announced its own mobile service plan and the āT1 Phone,ā a customized all-gold mobile phone that its creators say will be made in America.
I tried to pre-order the phone and pay the $100 downpayment, hoping to test the phone to see what apps come pre-installed, how secure it really is, and what components it includes when it comes out. The website failed, went to an error page, and then charged my credit card the wrong amount of $64.70. I received a confirmation email saying Iāll receive a confirmation when my order has been shipped, but I havenāt provided a shipping address or paid the full $499 price tag. It is the worst experience Iāve ever faced buying a consumer electronic product and I have no idea whether or how Iāll receive the phone.
āTrump Mobile is going to change the game, weāre building on the movement to put America first, and we will deliver the highest levels of quality and service. Our company is based right here in the United States because we know itās what our customers want and deserve,ā Donald Trump Jr., EVP of the Trump Organization, and obviously one of President Trumpās sons, said in a press release announcing Trump Mobile.
The announcement describes the T1 Phone as a āsleek, gold smartphone engineered for performance and proudly designed and built in the United States for customers who expect the best from their mobile carrier.ā
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Do you know anything else about this phone? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at joseph.404 or send me an email at joseph@404media.co.
On the Benny Show podcast Trump Jr. said the phone is for people who want a phone made in America that without the potential of a ābackdoor made into the hardware that some of our adversaries may have installed in there.ā Trump Jr. also said call centers for Trump Mobile will be in St. Louis, āso weāre keeping our data on shore.ā
Various phone companies and projects have pushed the āmade in Americaā aspect of their phones. One is the Liberty Phone from Purism. Building a device in America or ensuring the integrity of a phoneās supply chain can be exceptionally difficult for a smaller company, because many components may be made in China or other countries even if the device itself is assembled in the U.S. And ultimately, a company with no telecom or hardware experience selling a device like the T1 Phone is probably not going to have the expertise to build a more secure device than, say, Apple or Google with its own Pixel devices, which have massive teams updating the hardware and operating system and constantly hunting for threats against their devices and users.
The mobile carrier part of Trump Mobile appears to be a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), which is essentially a carrier that piggybacks off the technical infrastructure of the countryās other fully-fledged carriers like T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon. The Trump Organizationās announcement says that āTrump Mobile will offer 5G service through all three major cellular carriers.ā
The Trump family and organization continue to make lucrative deals based on the Trump name while President Trump is in power. Bloomberg found that since Trumpās reelection campaign, the name has powered more than $10 billion of real estate projects, $500 million in sales from one of his crypto ventures, and millions from stakes in other companies.
The Trump Organization did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
After maybe pre-ordering my T1 Phone, the confirmation email said I could log into TrumpMobile.com to make changes to my account. I did that, changed my password as prompted, and then hit another error page. I have not been able to log into the site.
About the author
Joseph is an award-winning investigative journalist focused on generating impact. His work has triggered hundreds of millions of dollars worth of fines, shut down tech companies, and much more.
Joseph Cox
These are gonna be worse than the DethKlok phone, and that thing has spikes that stab your face when you use it.
Fucking solid reference
Dunkin Hills approved
It also could be used as a weapon.
Of course the phone is gold. Does it come with a stylus shaped like a golf club and diaper as well? Or are those extra?
Edit: Looked the specs. It has a headphone jack and expandable memory. How can Trump get that right and most phone manufacturers canāt?
Because itās almost certainly an old, low spec device that theyāve bought a job lot of on clearance.
Because removing a headphone jack takes courage
Thatās an impressive amount of optimism you have there. My guess is, you can kiss that money goodbye, but I hope everything somehow works out anyway.
Clearly the wrong price; should be going for $86.47.
For those OOTL (like I was):
time.com/ā¦/james-comey-86-47-trump-threat-investiā¦
<img alt="" src="https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/009a7c25-061e-40b6-972e-919efa7c1d56.jpeg">
I donāt get it
86 is a term used in restaurants to tell the staff when a product is no longer available. 47 means the 47th president of the US
Americans say ā86 [thing]ā to mean āget rid of [thing]ā
Iām an American and I rarely if ever hear this
Itās something Americans say.
There is hidden significance and symbolism throughout the device for those dedicated trumpies to uncover. For example, one easter egg is that the length of the screen is exactly 4x the length of trumpās dick.
And they prolly didnāt measure it diagonally either. Only straight. As God intended or something.
Stuck the landing. Cheers.
Weāre so gilded ugh
extremely non-zero chance the entire site and payment system was coded by morons with chatgpt
The preferred term is āvibe codingā nowadays!
<img alt="" src="https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/b43c2fcf-428a-4eed-8a34-b79a5501bcd6.webp">
Consider sharing that with !vibecoders@lemmy.ca. Iām sure they will appreciate it.
At this point, his sons are just vibe scamming. Kind of surprised that they havenāt started a gun company yet. Truth rifles that literally blow up in his followersā faces.
vibe coding sound way too cool for what it is
well i'm definitely shocked that the guy banned from operating a charity in new york because he scammed children with cancer would operate a shoddy business.
Usually heās not even involved in running the business, theyāre licensing deals where some scammer pays a few million up front to use the Trump name, which is then used to scam his followers.
With a track record like that, heās the first person I would trust. /s
He wasnāt actually banned.
Unfortunately true. Worth reading that snopes article just to see how much fucked up stuff was actually happening though. Itās not a mischaracterization to say they stole from kids with cancer through self dealing.
Psstā¦ youāre sarcasm is showing
Bumblebee tuna
Canāt say I feel bad for you buddy. Count yourself lucky if your cc info isnāt abused.
You are literally dealing with known felons.
Itās a 404 Media journalist, he did it on purpose to point out how stupid it is.
Is this one of the ways that Palantir plans to do mass surveillance? I would not be surprised.
It will be a bog standard white label china phone with android, a custom wallpaper and maybe some cover/protector like you can get on temu. Itās not like they develop their own hardware configuration, apps or phone os.
But the worldās best professional bullshitter wrote on Truth that itās built in the USA, itās not a China phone
Which American companies actually manufacture displays, ram, CPUs, batteries etc. for cellphones in America?
Trumps companies if you believe him and disregard the āmade in chinaā sticker
well, hope this spreads quickly as a lesson to everyone avoid that crap!
Those who buy this deserve it.
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Is this the new <img alt="freedom phone?" src="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KPY-gjmHWA">
Latest sneak peak of the phone in action:
<img alt="toddler with phone" src="https://lemmy.ca/pictrs/image/d3d19bc1-b9e8-485a-84b2-00e0de453c04.jpeg">
Parets
Maybe they meant parrot parents?
<img alt="" src="https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/c3e572f4-1b6a-4cf9-94e9-57d2ea55090b.jpeg">
On the upside, its good to see the Fam wasting grift money on business that are doomed to fail.
Thereās a very high probability that the company will shut down before they even get a working product. All the pre-order money will have been spent on āresearchā and āsalariesā, with 80% going directly into Trumpās pockets. And there will be fuck all anyone can do to get their money back. Scammers gonna scam.
Iām confident itās simply going to be a white label of some Chinese brand. Only question is which one.
Also there are tons of similar mvno networks, so that part is fine.
I sometimes wish I had no moral code. This demographic is super easy to scam. Like the guy who listed the non-woke beer or the people who listed the freedumb phone, etc. Just attach some bullshit marketing to a thing and stupid people eat it up.
OP sounds like this is a B2B gone wrongā¦ the 67.47$ is what they pay the factory. For the consumer this should be 499$
I bet the business address is that same as the one for his Trump watches, gold sneakers, and some āmale enhancement honeyā that youād have to be very
hard upwell, desperate to try.Plot twist: there are no phones, the whole thing is a scheme to rip off people for $64.70. Enough money to make the scam worth it, not enough for people to put in the time and effort to reclaim their money unless their credit card will compensate them.
I mean, itās literally just a rebranded CP12, itās a $50 phone thatās been painted gold.
Thatās not a twist at allā¦
Fun fact, the alt right released a āFreedom Phoneā after the jan 6 insurrection at the US capitol.
Spoilers: The phone was just brought from some no-brand Chinese company and then rebranded and sold for more. The āFreedomā is just called sideloading, which a Google Android phone could already do. And the CEO claim to have ābuild the OSā all by himselfā¦
Likeā¦ some rich Millionaire trust fund kid with zero experience writing an entire android fork all by himself? š¤
Its probably just spyware so the far right can monitor their cult followers. Once their leaders get into power, theyāll just get purged like the brownshirts.
Very plausibly what started as a FBI monitoring tool which no longer has any staff with knowledge of the program anymore.
Lol, did whoever set to the shop configure it in Australian dollars? 100 AUD are just about 65 USD. Given the currency fluctuation, that could just about work out.