Experts have said Donald Trump’s new gold smartphone will almost certainly be made in China, despite it promising it would be “built in America.”
This week, the Trump Organisation announced that it would be launching a brand-new golden smartphone and mobile service this summer – overseen by the US President’s sons Donald Jr and Eric.
Aimed at “real Americans“, this T1 Phone hopes to rival sector giants Samsung and Apple and will be available from August for $499 (£367.94). The monthly payment plan comes to $47.45 (£34.98).
The device was heavily promoted as being “proudly designed and built in the United States”, with a representative telling the Wall Street Journal that manufacturing “will be in Alabama, California and Florida.”
READ NEXT: Donald Trump asks Juventus squad for opinions on transgender players in painful exchange
But like with most things that come from the Trump sphere, it seems this is a bending of the truth.
Experts and analysts have cast doubt on the claims, saying it is likely the phone will need to be built in China.
Supply expert Tinglong Dai told Newsweek that building a smartphone entirely in the US in the coming months is “all but impossible.”
Francisco Jeronimo, vice president at International Data Corp, told CNBC there is “no way it is going to be assembled in the U.S. or completely manufactured in the U.S,” adding that this is “completely impossible,” whilst Leo Gebbie, principal analyst at CCS Insight, told Fortune there was “no serious chance” of the phones being made in the U.S. in time for their launch date.
Some have also thrown doubt on claims that the phone was designed in the US as well, with people noting similarities between the handset and an Android model built by Chinese company Wingtech, available on Amazon less than half of the price of the Trump product.
On X, California governor Gavin Newsom – who has recently locked horns with Trump over the decision to deploy the National Guard in Los Angeles – couldn’t help but take a dig at the president over the reports…