Florida man expands crypto empire with new wireless service and phone

MAGA MVNO and the gold-plated telephone of destiny

The Trump family is getting into the wireless business - and what better way to do it than with a gold-colored Android smartphone that could someday be designed and manufactured in the USA?

The Trump Organization today pulled the velvet curtain off of Trump Mobile, a self-described "transformational new cellular service" that reflects the values of "hard-working Americans … and delivers reliable quality they can count on." 

All believable if "transformational" means yet another discount mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) piggybacking off of someone else's infrastructure; if "reliable quality" means customers will likely see their "unlimited data" plans deprioritized by AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile; and if hard-working Americans value gold-colored smartphones with ambiguous specs. 

Trump Mobile's website says it has the same coverage as the three nationwide phone service carriers, likely referring to the aforementioned trio of AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. It's unlikely the Trump Organization has the capital to construct a nationwide tower network that it failed to mention in the announcement, so it's likely just another service piggybacking off the massive networks that the three big carriers have built over decades. 

The "47 Plan" offers users typical smartphone plans like unlimited talk, text and data, mobile hotspotting, eSIM or physical SIM cards, number porting, bring-your-own-device, and the like. Unlike the company's namesake, Trump Mobile also appears to play nice with other countries, offering free international calling to a number of countries, though many are limited to just a few minutes of time before billing starts kicking in (calls to China as well as Russian landlines don't appear to have a limit, luckily). All that for only $47.45 per month. If you don't understand how they came up with that price, you're not in the target demographic.

All those benefits assume the third-party networks to which Trump Mobile customers are connected don't deprioritize their service in favor of the company's own customers - a common problem for MVNO customers during peak usage times. 

It's also worth pointing out that other MVNOs, like Mint Mobile, offer comparable service for considerably less per month than Trump Mobile. Mint's yearly unlimited data plan runs $30 per month when not discounted for new users. Verizon, which for some bizarre reason has its own MVNO that runs on its own towers called Visible, offers a similar service for $25 per month without the promo code. 

Trump Mobile's higher price does come with additional perks that may justify the price to MAGA loyalists, however. Roadside assistance, device protection, and telehealth services are all apparently included in the plan, though Trump Mobile makes clear those services aren't offered by Trump Mobile itself and are subject to the terms of those third-party companies. 

In the case of roadside assistance, for example, that's offered by a firm called Drive America, and according to Trump Mobile, the benefit is limited to $100, and is subject to filing a claim for reimbursement. Still, it could come in handy if you're an American citizen pulled over by ICE on your way to work.

As for telehealth services, those are provided by a company called Doctegrity, and it looks like Trump Mobile is only serving as a redirect to Doctegrity's website, where users will have to register for access "directly through Doctegrity." Whether that includes a waiver for Doctegrity's service fee, which starts at $29/month for a single user, isn't indicated. Nonetheless, a helpful service in the event that Trump's proposed budget cuts to Medicaid devastate rural hospitals, as many are reportedly warning will happen.

The gold Trump smartphone: Made in the USA (eventually)

If you don't want to bring your own device, you can spring for the T1 Phone at $499, which the Trump Organization claims is "a sleek, gold smartphone engineered for performance and proudly designed and built in the United States." 

At least, theoretically.

"You can build these phones in the United States," Trump Organization EVP and son of Donald, Eric, told conservative commentator Benny Johnson in an interview today. "Eventually all the phones can be built in the United States of America." 

It's also highly unlikely that the Trump phone is actually made of gold, as actual gold-plated phones tend to cost a lot more. 

As to who is manufacturing the T1 smartphone, that's not specified on the Trump Mobile website. We reached out to the carrier to find out, but didn't receive a response to any of our questions. 

On specs, Trump Mobile touts the T1 Phone as "engineered for performance," featuring 12GB of RAM, a 6.8-inch AMOLED screen, a 5,000mAh battery and Android 15. That said, there's no mention of what sort of chipset is driving the device, any security features beyond fingerprint/face login capabilities, and the rear camera specs are listed as the device has a 50MP main camera with a depth sensor and macro lens, both of which operate on a paltry 2MP. Trump Mobile does claim the selfie camera is 16MP though - perfect for taking nice, clear truck selfies. 

There's some confusion about when the T1 will be available - the Trump Mobile website says September, but the Trump Organization's website press release says August. We tried to get that point clarified, but no one has yet answered our questions. 

Like Trump Coins, product endorsements, branding collaborations, and other questionable products, Trump Mobile appears to be yet another attempt for the President's family to bank on his time in the White House. 

Caveat emptor and all that, though it's doubtful Trump's faithful will listen. ®