Warner Raises Concerns About Trump Mobile Business Practices and Advertising Claims

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and former technology entrepreneur who cofounded the wireless firm Nextel, is raising concerns about Trump Mobile’s alarming business practices and misleading advertising claims. In a letter to Trump Mobile CEO Patrick O’Brien, Sen. Warner wrote that at the company’s June 2025 launch at Trump Tower by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, Trump Mobile promised “the highest levels of quality and service” and a made-in-America cell phone. Nearly a year later, Warner noted reports that the device appears to be made in China and is available from online sellers for $175 – well below the $499 price tag for the T1 phone. He also raised concerns that Trump Mobile would not honor all customer pre-orders for the phone, despite having collected deposits. “I understand the complexities of the mobile telecommunications market, and that it can be daunting to enter a market with limited prior experience in that business. With that perspective, the delayed launch of Trump Mobile is not surprising. However, the cavalier manner in which Trump Mobile has treated its customers is shocking. Buyers of your phones and mobile service should expect that their contracts will be honored in full and not under the cloud of deceptive practices,” wrote Sen. Warner. “As public reporting suggests, there seems to be significant misrepresentation in Trump Mobile’s advertising to the public.” Warner questioned the company’s mobile service offerings, noting that while the Trump Mobile “47 Plan” is advertised as “Unlimited Talk, Text & Data,” the terms in fact include a wide range of qualifiers, limitations, and disclaimers – though include unlimited calls to Russia. Sen. Warner continued , “Trump Mobile offers the 47 Plan for $47.45/month for a single line (as well as additional fees). Monthly subscriptions plans for equivalent-level service from other carriers and mobile virtual network operators (MVNO) range as low as $20. In fact, Liberty Mobile Wireless, the MVNO that facilitates Trump Mobile’s actual cellular network operations, itself charges $40/month for its highest-tier prepaid plan.” Added Warner, “In addition to Trump Mobile’s failure to honor its contracts with its customers, Trump Mobile appears to have also failed in its pledge to build its phones entirely in the United States. Initially, Trump Mobile promoted the T1 phone as a device that would be ‘designed and built in the United States.’ Reporting indicates that Trump Mobile has subsequently walked back that claim, and that now that ‘T1 phones were assembled in the United States.’ While that development was predicted by many in the telecommunications industry, Trump Mobile’s shifting strategy raises questions as to the identities of the companies from which Trump Mobile sources its phones and components, and what security and privacy precautions, if any, Trump Mobile has undertaken when sourcing its T1 phones.” The letter concludes with a series of questions regarding Trump Mobile’s evolving claims about its products and the service customers will ultimately receive, requesting a response by May 25, 2026. Read the full letter here and below. Dear Mr. O’Brien: I write today to express my concern regarding the business practices of Trump Mobile. A review of Trump Mobile’s service offerings and purported T1 phone raises real questions as to the company’s ability to deliver on its promises and its contracts. In June 2025 at Trump Tower, Donald Trump Jr., joined by Eric Trump, announced Trump Mobile, a new mobile phone service. Promising the “highest levels of quality and service” and a made-in-America cell phone, Trump Mobile quickly fell behind on its promises. The $499 T1 phone, the ostensibly “Made in America” cell phone, now appears to be a “Made in China” phone available from online sellers for about $175. Now, 11 months later, you announced that the T1 phone will ship, but another concern for customers – and potential customers – of Trump Mobile is that Trump Mobile said that it will not honor all of its customers’ pre-orders for the T1 phone, despite collecting deposits from those customers. I understand the complexities of the mobile telecommunications market, and that it can be daunting to enter a market with limited prior experience in that business. With that perspective, the delayed launch of Trump Mobile is not surprising. However, the cavalier manner in which Trump Mobile has treated its customers is shocking. Buyers of your phones and mobile service should expect that their contracts will be honored in full and not under the cloud of deceptive practices. As public reporting suggests, there seems to be significant misrepresentation in Trump Mobile’s advertising to the public. The Trump Mobile 47 Plan touts “Unlimited Talk, Text & Data”. However, the rate plan contains significant qualifiers, limitations, and disclaimers. It notes that “Unlimited talk & text features [are] for direct communications between 2 people in the US only; others (e.g., conference & chat lines, etc.) may cost extra”, meaning that consumers could face unexpected and unplanned-for additional fees merely for participating in group calls or texts, two very common uses of talk and text services. The rate plan also reveals that 47 Plan subscribers’ “unlimited data” is more limited than advertised, noting that “if 20GB of data is [sic] used in a 30-day period, all data speeds may be reduced during rest of [sic] period”, and “content bundled with video may be slow to load”. Taken together with the delayed delivery of the T1 phone, these and other limitations of Trump Mobile service should generate caution among current and potential customers. 47 Plan users should also be aware of the limitations in the 47 Plan’s international call offerings, as there is a monthly maximum minutes cap when calling landline or mobile numbers in many countries. The 47 Plan does, however, offer unlimited calls to Russia. Trump Mobile offers the 47 Plan for $47.45/month for a single line (as well as additional fees). Monthly subscriptions plans for equivalent-level service from other carriers and mobile virtual network operators (MVNO) range as low as $20. In fact, Liberty Mobile Wireless, the MVNO that facilitates Trump Mobile’s actual cellular network operations, itself charges $40/month for its highest-tier prepaid plan. In addition to Trump Mobile’s failure to honor its contracts with its customers, Trump Mobile appears to have also failed in its pledge to build its phones entirely in the United States. Initially, Trump Mobile promoted the T1 phone as a device that would be “designed and built in the United States”. Reporting indicates that Trump Mobile has subsequently walked back that claim, and that now that “T1 phones were assembled in the United States”. While that development was predicted by many in the telecommunications industry, Trump Mobile’s shifting strategy raises questions as to the identities of the companies from which Trump Mobile sources its phones and components, and what security and privacy precautions, if any, Trump Mobile has undertaken when sourcing its T1 phones. In order to better understand the changing claims about Trump Mobile’s offerings, and what customers will actually receive, I request responses to the following questions no later than May 25, 2026. How did Trump Mobile determine the pricing plan of $47.45 per month per line? How much money does Trump Mobile estimate that it will collect in additional fees from all 47 Plan subscribers? How much does Trump Mobile estimate it will collect in additional fees per subscriber line? How many households pre-ordered T1 phones? How many households that pre-ordered T1 phones will receive the full number of phones that that household pre-ordered as part of the first tranche of T1 phones deliveries? What is that number as a percentage of total subscribers? For those households that will not receive their full number of pre-ordered T1 phones, will they receive a refund for each non-delivered phone? Will those individuals have to request a refund or will Trump Mobile affirmatively offer one? Is the T1 phone a white label cell phone designed and/or manufactured by an original equipment manufacturer (OEM)? If yes, what OEM(s)? What elements of T1 phone (or successor or other model offered or planned to be offered by Trump Mobile) design, manufacturing of components, or assembly are undertaken by Trump Mobile itself, or by entities under its direction or control? Does all such design, manufacturing, or assembly take place in the United States? If no, list all locations in which any such design, manufacturing, or assembly does occur. Can Trump Mobile truthfully state that the T1 phone was manufactured with no components originating from, or assembled in, the People’s Republic of China? Does Trump Mobile know each of its supplier companies (and their suppliers) in its supply chain? Did Trump Mobile undertake an effort to determine its suppliers’ supply chain? List the company/companies that are the OEMs of the following components of the T1 phone: The motherboard; The central processing unit (CPU); The graphics processing unit (GPU); The memory components; The battery and power management components; The Trusted Platform Module chips; The modem; Radiofrequency components, including antennas and amplifiers; Components enabling Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and NFC operations; The display panel; The rear and front camera systems, including lenses and sensors; and Biometric identification systems, including fingerprint or facial recognition technology. The promotional material for the T1 phone indicates that the device has “AI Face Unlock”. Describe what “AI Face Unlock” is as a functional capability, and which AI developers’ models are used as part of the AI Face Unlock functionality. How will the biometric data collected by Trump Mobile through the T1 phone be used, sold, stored, or otherwise utilized by Trump Mobile or other third parties? The T1 phone device may lack some of the features and capabilities listed in items a. – l.; if so, please indicate that in your response. What applications are pre-loaded on the T1 phone? Did Trump Mobile select, or have the ability to influence or determine, the applications that are pre-loaded onto T1 phones? If yes, what factors were used by Trump Mobile when making those determinations? Does Trump Mobile know how their customers’ data will be utilized by all preloaded applications on T1 phones (or successor models)? Are there any restrictions on how those third-party app developers may use data that they collect from Trump Mobile customers? Thank you for your attention to this matter, and I look forward to your response. ###