'Where'd their money go?': Sen. Elizabeth Warren accuses Donald Trump of misleading buyers on T1 phone

Nearly a year has passed since Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump announced a gold smartphone with the U.S. flag and their father's name for Americans, built on home soil. While nearly 600,000 customers lined up to get the phone by paying a $100 deposit, all they got was delivery delays. While company officials say deliveries will begin soon, lawmakers like Senator Elizabeth Warren are questioning if it is another "Trump scam." 

Back in June last year, when Trump Mobile, a company owned by the President's family, announced the T1 phone project, customers could put down a $100 deposit for the $499 5G phone, which was supposed to be delivered two months later in August. However, the deadline was then pushed with no deliveries made. Now, in May 2026, customers have yet to receive the phone or an update on the delivery, leading many to speculate that there may not be a phone after all. "Where'd their money go?" Sen. Warren asked on X, alleging that the project "looks like another Trump scam."

Eric Trump had announced that the T1 phone would provide "top-tier connectivity, unbeatable value, and all-American service for our nation's hardest-working people," and that it would change the game while building on the "America first" movement. The phone commanded an almost too good to be true price of $499, and received $100 deposits from an estimated 600,000 people who were promised to get the phone in summer 2025 then to November, then to December, to mid-March of this year, and now, Trump Mobile CEO Pat O'Brien told USA TODAY, that the pre-ordered phones will start getting sent out to customers this week.

O'Brien confirmed that the first T1 phones were assembled in the U.S. and moving forward, the product will use components that are primarily manufactured in America as well. He acknowledged that the company's phone production experienced a variety of delays, "but those delays were worth it," as the company will be delivering an "amazing product." While no phone has been delivered yet, the CEO said the pre-ordered phone will soon be shipped within the next several weeks. As of now, the Trump Mobile website is selling refurbished Apple and Samsung phones.

Speculations around whether the smartphones would ever see the light of day circulated on social media after the official website of the company updated its "Preorder Deposit Terms and Conditions" in April. The page added that a preorder deposit "provides only a conditional opportunity if Trump Mobile later elects, in its sole discretion, to offer the Device for sale" and that the deposit "does not create a contract for sale."  Days before O'Brien spoke about the deliveries, NBC News' Brian Cheung, who had also put a deposit down, said the customer care of the company could not provide him with a concrete timeline as to when the phones would be delivered.