Trump Phone finally shows up in real images after another round of shifting goalposts

The Trump Phone has been an enigma, wrapped in mystery and dragged out for way too long. We’ve seen both the design and the details of the handset change over time, and we’ve seen its description shift from “made in America” to “made for America.” Finally, we have a glimpse of what the phone could look like in reality, along with details about some of its specifications.

Don Hendrickson and Eric Thomas, two executives at Trump Mobile, were recently interviewed by The Verge, where they shared details about the upcoming phone. The phone, as per the interviewees, is not what it was initially planned to be. It is upgraded in a host of different ways, and that could also mean a price hike.

The executives also showed a pre-production model to The Verge, marking its first actual appearance. The unit looks unlike any of the various digital renders used by the brand, including fake renders based on other popular devices, such as the Galaxy S25 Ultra.

Based on the visuals, the phone appears to carry three cameras on the back. The executive said the phone uses 50MP sensors on both the selfie and primary rear cameras. While the purpose of the other cameras wasn’t elaborated, the Camera app’s UI, as seen by The Verge, suggests these would be ultrawide and telephoto cameras. The back also appears curved, unlike recent flagships, which have moved to flat back panels. The design reminds me of the Motorola Edge and Edge Plus (2022).

The executives also said that while the phone will retain its golden finish and the American flag on the back, the large T1 logo would be removed from the final phone.

The screen isn’t visible in the images, but the display is reported to be a “waterfall” design, which likely indicates a tiny notch for the selfie camera, unlike the punch-hole previously suggested by the renders. Given the size of the phone, the display is more likely to measure 6.78 inches as suggested by the early specifications posted on Trump Mobile’s website, instead of the 6.25 inches, which later appeared as part of the revised specifications.

The executives also revealed other details, including being powered by a Snapdragon 7 series chip and featuring a 5,000mAh battery. The phone is also said to come equipped with 512GB of built-in storage, up from the 256GB promised earlier, along with support for external SD cards with sizes up to 1TB.

The Trump Mobile executives justified these changes by saying that the significant interest in the phone prompted the team to upgrade the phone’s specifications to ensure lasting impact. Despite those changes, the initial backers who paid $100 to reserve the device will only have to pay $499 in total. However, new buyers will have to pay an undisclosed sum “less than $1,000.”

The representatives also said the final visuals of the upcoming device, along with its specifications, would be updated on Trump Mobile’s website soon. While there’s no promised timeline for release yet, the phone has supposedly received its FCC certification and is now expected to get its T-Mobile certification by mid-March.

Meanwhile, the team is still working on a more premium “T1 Ultra,” but has no concrete updates to share about it.