Trump Phone Unmasked as a 'Gold-Painted HTC U24 Pro' in iFixit Teardown — with Little Sign of the Built-in 'American Values'
iFixit said the $499 phone is nearly identical to HTC’s U24 Pro and uses Chinese-sourced parts, despite Trump Mobile’s U.S. assembly claims.
- Repair experts at iFixit dismantled the Trump Mobile T1 on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, confirming the $499 device is a near-exact replica of the 2024 HTC U24 Pro, featuring Chinese-sourced components.
- Trump Mobile initially marketed the device as 'Made in the USA,' but later revised its branding to 'Proudly Assembled in the USA' following scrutiny of its manufacturing origins.
- While the T1 includes a larger Philippine-made battery and modified speaker grille, the handset retains core HTC hardware, including an incorrect 11-stripe U.S. flag instead of 13.
- Senator Elizabeth Warren and ten other Democratic lawmakers requested an FTC investigation in January regarding consumer protection violations, while a data breach revealed sales reached approximately 30,000 units.
- Neither Trump Mobile nor the White House responded to inquiries about the design relationship, though iFixit lead technician Shahram Mokhtari concluded the device is designed, made, and sourced primarily in China.
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iFixit dismantled it and found an interior almost identical to that of the HTC U24 Pro, which rekindles doubts about its true origin.
Preliminary estimates of the T1 phone proved to be correct in an in-depth teardown by iFixit and NBC.
The disassembly of the first smartphone sold under the Trump brand shows that it is an almost faithful copy of the HTC U24 Pro model, developed in China.
Teardown of Trump Phone Reveals Incredibly Embarrassing Secret
Ever since it was announced, tech journalists wondered whether president Donald Trump’s “Trump Mobile” smartphone would ever see the light of day. The gaudy-looking golden smartphone, dubbed Trump Mobile T1, finally landed in the hands of a larger pool of tech reviewers this week — and as it turns out, suspicions that it was a shoddily-repackaged phone by Chinese manufacturer HTC were entirely warranted. A recent teardown by repair company iFixi…
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