from the fake-plastic-presidency dept
Earlier this year we noted how the Trump administration had cooked up a half-assed wireless phone company. Even calling it a “phone company” was being generous: the branding deal was basically just a licensing agreement and a lazy coat of paint on another, half-assed, MAGA-focused, mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) named Patriot Mobile, which itself just resells T-Mobile service.
What was supposed to set the venture apart was a “bold” new $500 Trump T1 smartphone.
To pitch the phone to unsuspecting rubes, the original press release had a badly photoshopped rendition of the device, peppered with claims the phone would be “proudly designed and built in the United States.”
It didn’t take long for the folks behind the phone to pull all the made in America claims from the website. And while originally the phone was supposed to launch in August or September, not long ago it was delayed until October 31. As November drew to a close, there’s still no sign of the device.
Even the Trump Mobile service doesn’t appear to be all that functional. The Verge has found that “Trump Mobile” can’t competently ship out promised SIM cards:
“Let’s say I don’t fully trust the Trump Organization to be great stewards of my credit card information, so I used a virtual number provided by my bank. Once I’d handed over the virtual money, I got this message: “Thank you for your order of a Physical SIM, we’ll ship next business day via First Class USPS mail, no separate tracking number will be sent.” Just what I was looking for with my wireless service: a sense of mystery! Fast-forward two weeks, and that SIM card is still on its way.”
Customer service appears to function (The Verge did manage to get a refund), but again, this is likely just outsourced to the support centers for existing MVNOs, since “Trump Mobile” technically doesn’t really exist.
NBC journalists pre-ordered the Trump phone, and have found themselves strung along for weeks now, with one call center rep blaming the government shutdown. Despite this effort clearly having nothing to actually do with the government:
“That date passed without an update, and when NBC News followed up with the call center, an operator said the delivery would now be in the “beginning of December,” with no specific date.
The operator cited the government shutdown as a reason for the delay, without further explanation.”
One gets the sense that, like most things the Trump Organization does, there wasn’t much thought put into this whole affair. It was just another in a long line of lazy lifestyle branding cash grabs attempting to monetize the presidency, that nobody in Trumpland put much thought into.
In that sense, it’s perfectly representative of Trump and his supposed business acumen. Just a lazy, hollow simulacrum of a real thing, targeting an audience that’s consistently too dim to notice the difference.
Filed Under: branding, donald trump, maga, mobile, t1 phone, telecom, trump phone
Companies: t-mobile, trump mobile, trump organization
