It’s been well established that the Trump Phone doesn’t exist. But that isn’t the only phone Trump Mobile sells. It also offers a range of refurbished Apple and Samsung handsets that you can buy right now. You really shouldn’t though.
I was relieved reading Allison’s coverage over the last two weeks to discover that not everything about Trump Mobile is a scam. It may have taken her a couple weeks to actually get a SIM card, but once it arrived it did work just fine — it’s T-Mobile, after all. It made me realize that you could, if you wanted, get Trump Mobile coverage on a Trump Mobile-sold phone right now, so long as you don’t mind that the hardware won’t have “American hands behind every device.”
Trump Mobile’s online store currently sells four phones, alongside its $100 deposits for the T1 Phone. You can buy a Samsung Galaxy S23 or S24, or Apple’s iPhone 14 or 15. None of these are the latest models — the two Samsungs launched in 2023 and 2024 respectively, and the iPhones are even older, from 2022 and 2023. You can also only get the base models of each. And I do mean base — not only does Trump Mobile not sell any of the Plus, Ultra, Pro, or Pro Max versions of these phones, it doesn’t even sell higher storage SKUs — it’s 128GB or bust. You can’t even pick which color you buy, so I hope you like black.
That simplicity makes it pretty easy to check if these phones are a good value or not. Surprise, surprise, they aren’t.
That iPhone 14 will set you back $489, with the 15 for $629. Apple itself doesn’t even sell the refurbished iPhone 14 any more, but its 15 is going for $529 — $100 cheaper than Trump charges — and it sells the new 16E for $599. Things only get worse if you shop around. Amazon has the two phones for $305 and $429.99 respectively, Best Buy from $327 and $479.97, and Back Market for $398 or $536 — and that’s for its most expensive “Premium” tier of device condition. So far I haven’t found anywhere that sells refurbished iPhones for more than Trump Mobile does, and neither could Roman Loyola at Macworld.
The company looks a little better for the Galaxy phones, where it at least undercuts Samsung. At $369 for an S23 and $459 for an S24 from Trump Mobile these are markedly cheaper than the iPhones, and better than Samsung’s own steep renewed pricing of $519 and $599. Still, look elsewhere and it’s a familiar story, with the older S23 available for $249 on Amazon, $249 at Best Buy, and $290 at Back Market for the best condition available, all cheaper than Trump Mobile.
Does Trump Mobile give a premium service to match that price? Not obviously. It’s not clear who’s actually refurbishing these phones, nor does the store page make any guarantees to have used official parts in its repairs, though all four refurbished phones are described as having been “brought to life right here in the USA.” There’s no mention of a warranty, whereas Apple, Samsung, and Back Market all promise a one-year warranty with their refurbished phones.
There’s even some characteristic sloppiness to the product pages, which use the same order interface as the T1 Phone deposits, promising that you can “Be the first to get your iPhone 14 Renewed” (again, this is a three-year-old phone), and that you’ll “only be charged $489.00 today” — the full price of the phone.
So no, if you’re impatiently awaiting your T1 Phone 8002, you probably shouldn’t buy a Trump-refurbished iPhone instead. We’ll all just have to hold on a little longer.
As ever, Trump Mobile did not respond to my request for comment.