The Trump phone might not be “made in America” after all

Taking it back? The Trump Organization announced a new Trump Mobile phone service alongside a brand new “completely made in America” T1 smartphone earlier in June, and experts were already skeptical. Almost all smartphones bought in the US were manufactured abroad, and delivering a US-made phone with the T1’s specs as early as September was “utterly unfathomable,” according to the Verge. As it turns out, the Trump phone might not be made in the US after all.

A sneaky edit. The Trump Mobile website had originally noted that the T1 smartphone was made in the US, offering the device for preorders under that claim. A little over a week later, the website has silently been updated to remove the aforementioned statement. Instead, the USD 499 smartphone is now vaguely “designed with American values in mind.” The website also notes that there are “American hands behind every device,” with all language directly pointing towards a US-manufactured device seemingly wiped clean, according to Ars Technica.

Are the gears having trouble turning? The smartphone, originally marketed to boast a 6.8 inch display and 12 gbs of ram, and slated for release in September, seems to have shrunk in size. The website now claims the T1 comes with a 6.25 inch display — with no mention of ram, and promises to launch at an undisclosed later date this year, leading to belief that Trump Mobile’s supplier might have changed. In short, it’s not even the same phone anymore.

In Trump Mobile’s defense, Eric Trump, the Trump Organization’s executive vice president, had said earlier that “[eventually] all the phones can be built in the United States of America,” according to CNN, implying that US manufacturing is the goal, rather than the current reality. However, a Trump Mobile spokesperson told Ars Technica that “the T1 phones are proudly being made in America. Speculation to the contrary is simply inaccurate,” yet refused to comment on why the website changed its claims.

It’s virtually impossible for the T1 to be built in the US. “You would have to have a miracle,” Tinglong Dai, professor at Johns Hopkins' Carey Business School, told the BBC. The operations management instructor noted that the US lacks the supply chain, economies of scale, and demand required for a US-built smartphone. Prior to the phone’s spec change, many experts had speculated that the T1 smartphone was essentially a Chinese Revvl phone with a Trump sticker — citing many similarities between both devices, particularly the headphone jack, which many phone manufacturers have long omitted.