from the lazy-garbage-for-rubes dept
Never one to miss an opportunity to exploit the presidency for a quick and tacky buck, the Trump administration is getting into the cell phone business.
Well, sort of: the Trump administration is launching a lazy new MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) that piggybacks on existing wireless networks with an added perk: a fake-gold $500 “T1” phone celebrating everyone’s favorite reality TV star turned incoherent authoritarian zealot.
The phone image appears to be a lazy Photoshop of a phone without a flash, suggesting this device is probably nowhere close to actually existing yet:
The new Trump Mobile service launches in September, and will offer a $47.45-per-month plan that includes unlimited talk, text and data, as well as roadside assistance and a “Telehealth and Pharmacy Benefit.” The Trump org claims the phone was “made in the USA,” which pretty much guarantees stories around six to eight months from now revealing the phones were all made in China (from Trump family press appearances there are already indications this is probably a lie).
The Verge notices that the press release for the gambit has a bunch of lazy errors, including RAM that’s described as storage, and the promise of a “5000mAh long life camera”; terminology that actually refers to battery capacity. The Trump Mobile terms of use say the network is really just a rebranding of another MAGA-friendly MVNO, Liberty Mobile, which runs on the (also Trump friendly) T-Mobile network.
These MVNOs have become a dime a dozen. Such networks (increasingly owned by celebrities), usually spend a few years pretending to be a serious pro-consumer venture, offering lower-cost cell phone plans with limited device options and a bunch of weird network restrictions and caveats buried in the fine print.
Once (if) the brand becomes valuable, it’s usually sold off to one of the major three carriers, who then steadily make the service shittier and shittier before sunsetting the brand. Wash, rinse, repeat.
There have been a lot of these half-assed MAGA MVNOs. Like Patriot Mobile, which you might recall was supposed to be a MAGA-friendly wireless phone service that claimed to be sticking it to AT&T — because AT&T briefly refused to carry right wing propaganda channel OAN (despite AT&T coming up with the idea for OAN and funding its creation!). Which network did the service run on? AT&T.
There’s occasionally an exception, but generally these kinds of MVNOs are a silly pump-and-dump gambit that helps prop up the idea that U.S. telecom is more competitive than it is, which of course makes it perfect for the Trump administration.
This one seems particularly lazy. Scratch at the surface, and Trump Mobile winds up being little more than a brand and a license agreement, according to the Trump Mobile website fine print:
“Trump Mobile, its products and services are not designed, developed, manufactured, distributed or sold by The Trump Organization or any of their respective affiliates or principals.”
From Trump high tops to Trump bibles, there’s no shortage of low-quality Trump cack attempting to exploit the presidency for a quick and lazy buck (the admin made $8 million in such agreements in 2024). But in between destroying the rule of law and teeing up race riots, Trump’s underlings have been busy significantly ramping up such deals in 2025, including a looming new line of Trump home goods.
In many ways Trump continues to be the perfect reflection of this country’s obsession with artifice. We built a giant golem out of trash, garbage and the shallowest, tackiest bullshit imaginable, and it’s now eating us alive. With any luck the entire violent experiment will be available for pennies on the shelves of your local Good Will before too long.
Filed Under: competition, mobile, telecom, wireless
Companies: liberty mobile, t-mobile, trump mobile, trump organization
