{"id":220799,"date":"2026-01-01T00:32:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T00:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/220799\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T00:32:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T00:32:10","slug":"trump-family-business-delays-launch-of-gold-smartphone-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/220799\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump family business delays launch of gold smartphone \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trump Mobile, the phone company launched by Donald Trump\u2019s<\/a> family business, has pushed back plans to deliver a $499 (\u20ac425) gold-coloured smartphone by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

The Trump Organisation licensed its name to launch a mobile service and the device in June, in the latest monetisation of his presidency by a family business empire now run by Mr Trump\u2019s sons.<\/p>\n

In the latest setback for the project, Trump Mobile said there was a \u201cstrong possibility\u201d the handset would not be delivered this month, the Financial Times reported. The company\u2019s customer service team told the FT that the recent government shutdown had disrupted shipments.<\/p>\n

The T1 smartphone, described by the company as \u201cproudly American\u201d, was initially promoted as a US-made rival to devices from Apple<\/a> and Samsung<\/a>. Almost all smartphones sold in the US are made overseas, primarily in China<\/a> and South Korea<\/a>, but also increasingly in India<\/a> and Vietnam<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Etched with an American flag, the T1 was initially promised in August, and the website still states it will be released \u201clater this year\u201d. Customers are required to make a $100 payment up-front to order the device.<\/p>\n

The T1 launch came shortly after Trump criticised Apple over its plans to move the production of iPhones destined for the US market from China to India.<\/p>\n

It remains unclear who could manufacture the T1 handset, given the low levels of domestic smartphone production in the US.<\/p>\n

Trump Mobile also offers a phone contract costing $47.45 monthly, with the name of the service plan and the price referencing Trump\u2019s status as the 47th US president.<\/p>\n

The phone venture is headed by Mr Trump\u2019s sons Donald jnr and Eric, who took over the family company after their father transitioned to his second presidency.<\/p>\n

The mobile service joins Trump-branded watches, footwear and bibles as products capitalising on his political brand, while Trump\u2019s sons have indicated there will be more to come.<\/p>\n

The Trump Organisation has expanded from real estate into digital media and telecommunications. The venture will operate through licensing deals that generated more than $8 million for the president in 2024, according to financial disclosures.<\/p>\n

The move into phones also raises questions about conflicts of interest, as the president\u2019s family business operates in a sector that is heavily regulated by federal agencies over which Mr Trump wields executive power. \u2013 The Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Trump Mobile, the phone company launched by Donald Trump\u2019s family business, has pushed back plans to deliver a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":220800,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[936,114,969,61,2568,60,202,573,80,90],"class_list":{"0":"post-220799","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-apple","9":"tag-china","10":"tag-donald-trump","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-india","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-mobile","15":"tag-samsung","16":"tag-technology","17":"tag-us"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}