Shawn
Thew/EPA/Bloomberg
via
Getty
Images
The
Trump
Organization
still
hasn’t
shipped
their
promised
Trump
phone
to
most
customers
who
laid
down
a
$100
deposit
a
year
ago.
But rubes patriots
who
signed
up
did
get
something
else
instead:
their
private
data
leaked
to
the
public. According
to
Techcrunch,
the
Trump
Mobile
website
openly
shared
customer
emails,
addresses,
phone
numbers,
and
other
sensitive
data.
Trump
Mobile
has subsequently
confirmed
the
leak,
which
they’re
blaming
on
somebody
else:
“Phone
provider
Trump
Mobile
has
confirmed
that
it
was
exposing
customers’
names,
addresses,
mailing
addresses,
cell
numbers,
and
order
identifiers
to
the
open
internet…[a
spokesperson]
said
that
the
exposure
was
linked
to
a
third-party
platform
provider
that
supports
“certain
Trump
Mobile
operations.”
He
did
not
name
the
provider.”
Whoops.
Even
calling
Trump
Mobile
an
actual
company
is
generous.
As
we noted
when
it
was
“launched”
last
year,
the
company
is
really
just
a
lazy
rebrand
of
an
existing
MAGA-friendly
MVNO
provider,
Patriot
Mobile,
which
itself
just
resells
T-Mobile
service.
A
cornerstone
of
the
venture
was
a
“made
in
America”
gold
“Trump
phone”
named
the
T1
that
was
supposed
to
launch
last
August.
Though
shortly
after
launch
the
Trump
Organization
eliminated
all
the
“made
in
America”
claims.
And
the
actual
phone
still
hasn’t
arrived
in
the
hands
of
most
customers,
despite
people
paying
$100
as
early
as
June
last
year
to
reserve
one.
So
very
on
brand,
really.
Some
of
the
Chinese-made
phones
have
started
showing
up
with
reviewers,
and
it’s
not
going
great.
The
screen
is
smaller
than
promised,
the
gold
is
more
of
a
sickly
yellow,
the
American
flag
is missing
two
stripes,
and
the
phone,
despite
promises
that
it
was
“made
with
American
values
in
mind,”
appears
to
just
be
a lazy
rebrand of
an
existing
two-year-old
Chinese-made
Android
phone
(the
2024
HTC
U24
Pro).
So
it’s
a
dated
Chinese
phone,
slathered
with
Trump’s
name,
gold
paint,
and
an
incorrect
depiction
of
the
U.S.
flag
—
that’s
a
year
late,
not
particularly
secure,
and
pre-loaded
with
propaganda
(Truth
Social).
Again,
very
on
brand.
Though
curiously
in
stark
contrast
to
all
of
the
Trump
bravado
about
how
he’d personally
ensure
most
smartphones
would
now
be
made
in
the
States.
Still,
Trump
Mobile
execs
are trying
to
put
on
a
brave
face and
pretend
this
is
going
well:
“The
technology
business
is
more
difficult
than
some
may
realize,
as
parts
must
be
tested
for
quality
assurances,”
Trump
Mobile
CEO
Pat
O’Brien
said
in
a
statement
to
CNET
earlier
this
month.
“We
have
experienced
delays
during
a
variety
of
steps
in
getting
the
T1
to
completion,
but
those
delays
were
worth
it
in
our
minds
as
we
are
delivering
an
amazing
product.”
Except
there’s
no
real
indication
that
last
bit
is
true.
Like
most
Trump
efforts
to
make
money
off
his
name,
it’s
clear
this
entire
thing
was
aggressively
half-assed.
‘Trump
Mobile’
Has
Struggled
To
Ship
Any
Phones,
But
Has
Already
Leaked
Subscriber
Data
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