Where is the Trump phone? Golden iPhone rival misses another release date – as experts suggest it may never arrive

• The Trump Mobile T1 Phone has missed another promised release date
• Previous messaging had implied it would launch by the end of 2025
• There’s been no update on when the device might now arrive

US President Donald Trump has made a big deal of selling a gold-colored Trump-branded “T1 Phone” to his loyal supporters, but so far no one has anything to show for it, despite $100 pre-orders being taken for the mysterious device. Things haven’t been looking up recently, either, as the T1 Phone has just missed another launch deadline.

Back when it was announced in June 2025, it was promised that the device would ship in August or September that year. Those dates came and went without any phones being sent out to purchasers, and the release date was then changed to “later this year” on the product’s website.

That “later this year” phrasing implied that the T1 Phone would arrive before the end of 2025. But with 2026 well underway and no sign of the phone on the horizon, it seems that the device proudly bearing Trump’s name is nowhere to be found.

Visit the Trump Mobile website today and you’ll see the phone is still being promised for “later this year,” which no indication of which year that actually refers to. With the launch date uncertain, it’s not known how far the product is from being released.

Missing in action

Technically, the “later this year” text on the T1 Phone’s website could still be correct if it now refers to some point later in 2026. But the fact remains that the website had promised a 2025 launch date for the phone, which has now been missed.

According to the Financial Times, Trump Mobile’s customer service team told the outlet that the phone was delayed due to the recent US government shutdown. Writing in December 2025, the Financial Times said it was told by Trump Mobile that there was a “strong possibility” that the device would not ship by the end of the month – which has now come to pass.

This is not the first time that Trump Mobile has courted controversy. It has apparently renounced its flagship pledge to have the T1 Phone manufactured in America, while its mobile network has thrown up a plethora of issues and worrying limitations to those who have tried to use it.

Speaking to PBS, International Data Corp. analyst Francisco Jeronimo was doubtful about the phone’s prospects. “We have always been quite skeptical about this phone,” Jeronimo said. “They are probably finding that it is harder to build a phone than they thought it would be. Let’s see if this thing comes to life or not.”

With the calendar ticking over to a new year and the phone still absent, it’s anyone’s guess when – or if – it will finally touch down. Even if it does become a reality, it might not bear much resemblance to the promises that were made back when it was first revealed to the world.

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