The TRUMP token, US President Donald Trump’s official memecoin, is down 5%, according to CoinDesk market data, as Trump Mobile announced that the long-awaited T1 handset is set to begin shipping next week.
As CoinDesk previously reported, neither the Trump Mobile project nor the president’s memecoin have fared particularly well. Shipping dates for the handset have been repeatedly delayed — and customer support is limited — while the TRUMP token has fallen nearly 90%.
Another question is, what exactly is the T1 phone? Trump Mobile is a mobile virtual network operator and does not have the ability to design and manufacture its own handset. Instead, it has worked with an outside firm to select a handset and rebrand it to be Trump-themed. This kind of indictment is common; Solana re-skinned the Osom OV-1 for its first Saga phone.
The Verge got its hands on one of the T1 Phones last month and concluded that it “definitely looks a lot like the HTC U24,” a handset due out in 2024.
Exactly which company makes the Trump phone is unclear, as neither HTC nor Trump Mobile would provide an answer to The Verge. Trump Mobile has previously confirmed that its phones are fully assembled in the US but come from overseas.
For buyers, the shipping update means T1 can finally move from political merch concept to shipped consumer product.
For TRUMP holders, the 5% drop suggests the market is treating the phone less as a catalyst and more as another Trump-branded product trying to prove there’s still demand for the first wave of hype.
