Trump Phone unmasked as a 'gold-painted HTC U24 Pro' in iFixit teardown with little sign of the built-in 'American values'

Date:
Thu, 11 Jun 2026 13:52:11 +0000

The T1 by Trump Mobile is seemingly almost identical to the HTC U24 Pro, with just a few small differences -- One of the key selling points of the Trump Phone or the T1 by Trump Mobile, to give it its official name is its American values, with the official store page mentioning that phrase along with American innovation, American-proud design, and calling it a proudly American product. But you probably wont be surprised to learn that theres seemingly little of that American-ness in the phone itself.

You see, iFixit has finally got hold of a T1 handset and conducted a
teardown, learning in the process that the phone is almost identical to the HTC U24 Pro a 2024 handset from a Taiwanese brand that was seemingly
produced in China. There are a few differences here, but theyre mostly cosmetic, with the Trump Phone, of course, having that gold-colored finish, along with a slightly different camera block and speaker grille design.

Beyond that, the Trump Phone also has a slightly larger 5,000mAh battery up from 4,600mAh in the HTC U24 Pro but less powerful 30W charging, down from 60W in HTCs phone.

But make no mistake these are essentially the same handsets, with most of
the components, specs, and internal layouts being identical.

More Asian than American -- So, claims that the Trump T1 Phone contains any real American values, let alone that it could be proudly American, are hard to take seriously.

iFixit notes that markings on the phone say its assembled in the USA, which
is notably different from being made in America the latter of which has specific requirements from the FCC, which the Trump Phone seemingly doesnt meet.

Supposedly, the device is being assembled from around 10 components by a team in Florida, but iFixit speculates that the chassis and screen are imported as a pre-assembled unit (likely from the same factory in China as made the HTC U24 Pro), with Trump Mobiles team probably just adding things like the
battery and camera module all of which will likely also have been built elsewhere, but just perhaps not put into the phone until they reached US shores.

So, if you want a phone thats more than superficially American, this isnt the handset for you.

That said, the Trump T1 does at least have a similar price to the HTC U24
Pro, so its arguably not the total rip-off you might have expected it to be. iFixit jokes that, "against all expectations, the T1 is actually well priced when compared to the equivalently specced U24 Pro, and the only things you give up are the 60W fast charging and your dignity." We couldn't have put it better ourselves.

Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/phones/trump-phone-unmasked-as-a-gold-painted-htc-u2 4-pro-in-ifixit-teardown-with-little-sign-of-the-built-in-american-values

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