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lemmy - Link to source

MAGAs Are Fuming After Email Confirms They Will Never Get Their $500 Trump Phones or Deposits Back

A grift? From Trump? How could we possibly have gotten here?

Nearly 600,000 Trump supporters paid £74 ($100) each towards a gold smartphone that, nearly a year on, does not exist.

The Trump Mobile T1 phone was announced in June 2025 by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump as a patriotic alternative to Apple and Samsung, retailing at £370 ($499) and promising a 'Made in the USA' build.

An estimated 590,000 buyers paid a £74 ($100) deposit to secure one, collectively handing the venture roughly £43.7 million ($59 million). As of May 2026, not a single confirmed customer has received the device. Now, a fresh wave of anger is spreading across MAGA forums after buyers received communication making clear that their money is, for all practical purposes, gone.


MAGAs Are Fuming After Email Confirms They Will Never Get Their $500 Trump Phones or Deposits Back

Nearly 600,000 Trump supporters paid deposits for a gold smartphone that remains undelivered, sparking outrage and calls for investigation into Trump Mobile's practices.
Chelsie Napiza (International Business Times)
#technology
in reply to Powderhorn

Midnitte
lemmy - Link to source
Midnitte
• •
Damn that is fucking hilarious.
in reply to Midnitte

Steve
lemmy - Link to source
Steve
• •
What'll be hilarious, is when they file a class action suit to get their money back. That'll be gloriously delicious
in reply to Steve

MNByChoice
lemmy - Link to source
MNByChoice
• •
But will they?
in reply to MNByChoice

Steve
lemmy - Link to source
Steve
• •
eh... 60-70% chance I'd guess.
So maybe probably?
This entry was edited (2 weeks ago)
in reply to MNByChoice

slemptastrophe
piefed - Link to source
slemptastrophe
• •
They might file a suit. They'll never see that money again though. Not until we have a functioning government again, but by then we'll have much bigger problems to solve than a bunch of idiots getting their money back.
in reply to Steve

slemptastrophe
piefed - Link to source
slemptastrophe
• •
Can't disagree there. The Leopards Just Ate MY Face?! would be a very entertaining show.
in reply to Steve

Powderhorn
lemmy - Link to source
Powderhorn
• •
So, $5 per litigant after legal fees, assuming the DOJ doesn't step in and claim to be the defendant.
in reply to Powderhorn

tal
lemmy - Link to source
tal
• •

My impression is that Trump mostly just licenses his name to these ventures for a payment and isn't affiliated with them otherwise. I don't think that he likely cares much what happens to the phone buyers or sellers. He's made his money either way.

EDIT: Yeah:

trump.com/lifestyle/trump-mobi…

Trump Mobile, its products and services are not designed, developed, manufactured, distributed or sold by The Trump Organization or any of their respective affiliates or principals. T1 Mobile LLC uses the Trump name and trademark pursuant to the terms of a limited license agreement which may be terminated or revoked according to its terms.


It's some third-party fly-by-night organization doing the actual deal.

This entry was edited (2 weeks ago)
in reply to tal

JillyB
lemmy - Link to source
JillyB
• •
So it's basically a Solja boy console situation?
in reply to Steve

I_am_10_squirrels
lemmy - Link to source
I_am_10_squirrels
• •
Down-payment probably included a binding arbitration clause
in reply to Powderhorn

aramis87
mbin - Link to source
aramis87
• •
a revised terms of service published on 6 April 2026. The updated document states explicitly that paying a deposit 'does not constitute a completed purchase and does not create a binding legal contract.' The payment is described as 'a conditional opportunity to buy the device if Trump Mobile eventually chooses to sell it,' with the company retaining all control over whether a phone is produced at all.


screenshot of change in terms, but what I'd love to see is a copy of the email they've been getting.

in reply to aramis87

dom
lemmy - Link to source
dom
• •
How is this legal
in reply to dom

Wiz
lemmy - Link to source
Wiz
• •
Because both parties agreed to the contract, both the grifter and the grifted.
in reply to Wiz

dom
lemmy - Link to source
dom
• •
I mean sure. Does that mean anyone can do it? Scam old people with fine print, etc?
in reply to dom

Wiz
lemmy - Link to source
Wiz
• •
Yes, it happens all the time, and it's easier if you're a soulless asshole.
in reply to dom

Malyca
lemmy - Link to source
Malyca
• •
The social contract is broken, everything is legal now, for the right people
in reply to Powderhorn

FreeBooteR69
lemmy - Link to source
FreeBooteR69
• •
Hahaha fucking cults and their morons, i love it.
in reply to FreeBooteR69

tal
lemmy - Link to source
tal
• •
Frankly, being taken for $100 on a phone is probably a lot better than putting your life savings into one of Trump's memecoins or Truth Social, which some people did.
This entry was edited (2 weeks ago)
in reply to Powderhorn

manxu
piefed - Link to source
manxu
• •

American population: about 400 million. Cost of the war in Iran: about 20 billion per day. 20 billion divided by 400 million: about 50 dollars a day.

Every single person in America spent the equivalent of this Trump phone in ten days of this war that has lasted more than six times as long. How the man is still America's President, I don't know. But the saga of the $500 cult vaporphone sure explains a lot.

in reply to manxu

ɔiƚoxɘup
lemmy - Link to source
ɔiƚoxɘup
• •

Being in a panopticon prison state has a way of dissuading people from doing the needful.

Obviously there's more nuance than that, but...

Maybe to get an idea of what's going on, look at the timeline at maps.deflock.org/timeline

I don't have the spoons for more explanations right now, but we know how badly we're getting fleeced.

DeFlock Maps | ALPR Camera Map & Privacy Routes

Explore ALPR camera locations and plan privacy-optimized routes across the United States.
DeFlock Maps
in reply to ɔiƚoxɘup

partofthevoice
lemmy - Link to source
partofthevoice
• •

It’s bad, but also… it’s extremely complicated. China has a surveillance state. The EU, UK, and US are all flirting with surveillance state technology. You have companies like Palantir, Pegasus, Flock, … promoting their products to governments like magic hat solutions to issues such as terrorism. You have data aggregation companies selling private data to the 3 letter agencies. You have cops willingly using these networks because it makes their job slightly more effortless. You have Trump And Co with their own motives, who would love to find any possible leverage over their perceived enemies. You have AI companies riding the bull of the US economy, all desperately looking for catchy use cases. You have this idea of an AI arms race.

Whatever world we walk into, it’s not looking pretty. It’s looking like we might actually develop something which is going to be damn near impossible to turn off.

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