The bizarre Trump Phone saga just got an unexpected origin story

We’ve all spent months watching the Trump Phone saga unfold, from shifting specs to delayed timelines to, most recently, a glimpse of what appears to be a near-final device. Now we’re learning something new about where the whole idea came from. We’d say it’s not what you’d expect, but then, who knows what to expect with this device?

A new report from The Verge reveals that neither the T1 phone nor the Trump Mobile brand began as a Trump family brainwave. Instead, the idea traces back to Liberty Mobile, the MVNO run by Don Hendrickson, Eric Thomas, and Pat O’Brien. Before pitching the concept to the Trump Organization, the same team launched a celebrity-branded carrier built around boxing superstar Saul Alvarez, better known as Canelo.

Canelo is one of the highest-paid athletes in the world, and Canelo Mobile launched in 2020 with branded plans, bundled perks, and budget Android phones. There were three devices in total — The Legend, The Champ, and The Contender — which were themselves fairly ordinary. They were built by little-known manufacturer Hotpepper, and didn’t carry any celebrity branding. The phone faded from social media quite quickly, and the canelomobile.com domain is now up for auction.

The parallels to Trump Mobile are there. Liberty Mobile sits behind both ventures, described by executives as “umbilically connected” to Trump Mobile, even if that connection isn’t immediately obvious to customers browsing the site. The basic formula also feels familiar, with a recognizable name, a branded wireless plan, and a phone to complete the package. There was even talk of a second Trump phone late last year.

Perhaps the most revealing detail in The Verge’s interviews is how the executives describe their own priorities. “We’re in the razor blade business, we’re not in the razor business,” Don Hendrickson said, making clear that selling wireless subscriptions, not handsets, is the core business. In that context, the Trump Phone starts to look more like a mere tool to attract subscribers.

And you can see how the formula has been reworked between the boxing superstar and the President. Canelo Mobile offered budget plans starting at $15, with the phone selling for around $199. Trump Mobile is positioning itself as premium, with a sole $47.45 monthly plan and a $499 T1 Phone that may rise in price after it’s finally released.

Still, the shared playbook is striking, and it remains to be seen if the Trump phone is a top-selling success or follows the Canelo-branded venture into obscurity. We know what we think.