Trump Mobile Delays Gold Phone Release Thanks to Government Shutdown

Screengrab via Trump Mobile

Trump Mobile is delaying its initial shipment of its long-awaited, gold-colored T1 smartphones, blaming the latest government shutdown.

The cell phone service launched by the Trump Organization on June 16, 2025 has been promising the release of its gold-colored smartphone since August. Its new release date has not formally been announced, though a customer service representative told Fortune that it is now slated for “mid to late January.”

“The T1 has been delayed due to the government shutdown,” the anonymous customer service representative said in their conversation with Fortune. “They had to pause everything on the FCC side of things.”

No official numbers have been provided regarding how many $100 deposits have been placed for this $499 gold phone.

Designed to mark the 10th anniversary of Trump’s first presidential run, the smartphone boasts “The 47 Plan,” a $47.45 bundle of unlimited talk, text, and data as a nod to Trump’s position as the 45th and 47th president of the United States.

The company’s website previously boasted that the devices were “Made in the USA,” but has since shifted its rhetoric to call them “proudly American” and “designed with American values in mind.”

Those who have already put down the initial deposit have reported little to no communication from Trump Mobile providing updates on their orders. NBC News previously reported that its journalists who placed orders for purposes of “tracking” the phone’s development did not receive any “proactive updates” beyond an initial confirmation email.

California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) took to X to mock the news of this latest delay.

“You don’t say,” he wrote in his 3-word post.

Tech websites such as engadget have speculated that the entire company is a sham and the vaporware for the product is non-existent, noting that the Trump Mobile website is now selling “renewed” phones from other manufacturers such as Samsung and Apple at inflated prices.