Trump Launches Smartphone: A New Attempt at Political Marketing and Commercial Monetization

On June 16, 2025, Trump announced the launch of the mobile communication brand Trump Mobile and released the first smartphone T1 along with the accompanying communication package "The 47 Plan." Trump emphasized that this is a "Made in America" phone and service, drawing public attention.

In fact, Trump has previously had experience selling merchandise, such as opening stores on e-commerce platforms to sell hats, T-shirts, and more. The launch of the smartphone is seen as a new initiative in his "traffic monetization" business system.

The T1 mobile phone is priced at $499 and is expected to be launched in September 2025. It features a metal brushed body, with the American flag pattern engraved on the back, and the screen is embedded with Trump's campaign slogan. The configuration includes a 6.8-inch AMOLED screen, a 120Hz refresh rate, a 5000mAh battery, 12GB+256GB storage, and Android 15 system, overall positioned at a mid-to-high level.

The accompanying "The 47 Plan" communication package costs $47.45 per month, offering unlimited calls, texts, and high-speed data services. The package name and price both allude to Trump, who served as the 45th president and is currently vying for the 47th presidency.

The target users of Trump Mobile are mainly middle-aged and elderly conservative voters, veterans, and other supporters of Trump. This demographic generally values the symbolic significance of "Made in America" and conservative values, making them a typical "emotional brand" consumer group.

However, the claim of "Made in America" was quickly questioned. Some analyses pointed out that T1 is actually very similar to a certain brand of smartphone, which is produced by a Chinese manufacturer. Experts state that the United States currently lacks a complete smartphone industry chain, and it will take several years of infrastructure development to achieve true "Made in America."

In addition, T1 is generally priced at a premium of over $150 compared to similarly configured Android devices, and its value-added services can be provided by other operators at a lower price. This pricing strategy has sparked discussions about its reasonableness.

On a deeper level, Trump Mobile may be a precursor to an "Web3 + political economy" experiment. Some speculate that the phone may come pre-installed with wallets that support specific cryptocurrencies, generating fees through transactions. This "hardware as wallet" and "phone as gateway" strategy could transform consumers into economic stakeholders, creating a self-driven, viral traffic structure.

The emergence of Trump Mobile reflects Trump's latest attempt to commercialize the "traffic-brand-asset" path. If it only stays at the level of "white-label phones + conservative audience", it may be difficult to sustain. However, if it can integrate with the Web3 economic model and launch equity assets, it may be able to create a "closed economic ecosystem" that combines politics, business, finance, and community.

In this process, the mobile phone becomes a "mobile identity tag", political opinions transform into assets, ballots turn into tokens, and consumers are integrated into a new narrative system of the Trump brand. The future development of Trump Mobile will depend on whether it can truly carve out a new business model.