Trump’s T1 Phone promo sparks legal threat

On August 20, former U.S. President Donald Trump’s new mobile service venture shared a promotional post on X (formerly Twitter), unveiling the T1 Phone. The post featured an image of a gold smartphone with the tagline: “Gold Smartphone. Big Power.”

However, sharp-eyed users quickly noticed that the device was not a proprietary model. Instead, it appeared to be a Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra housed in a Spigen gold case, with a photoshopped U.S. flag and ‘T1’ branding pasted over Spigen’s original logo.

lawsuit incoming... https://t.co/HNO29Q5sjC pic.twitter.com/zC2J2QHQ7g

— Spigen (@spigen) August 21, 2025

Community Notes on X, a public fact-checking feature, highlighted the alteration. In response, Spigen hinted at possible legal action, posting: “A lawsuit is coming.”

According to Trump Mobile’s website, the T1 Phone is priced at $499 and is claimed to run on Android 15—despite most modern smartphones having already moved to Android 16, with Android 17 expected in 2026.

Originally announced earlier this year, the T1 Phone was promoted as being “designed and built in the United States.” However, a CNBC-TV18 report noted that experts remain skeptical such a device could be developed domestically at that price point.

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