A Lumafield CT Scanner Showed The T1’s Internals Were Virtually Indistinguishable From The HTC U24 Pro, NBC And iFixit Built A Working “Frankenstein Phone” Using The HTC Board Inside The T1 Shell That Booted The HTC Logo And Took Photos While Trump Mobile Said “T1 Phones Are Proudly Being Made In America”
According to NBC News, the Trump Mobile T1 phone, originally marketed as “Made in the USA,” is nearly identical to the two-year-old HTC U24 Pro, a phone made by the Taiwanese company HTC using Chinese parts, according to a technical analysis the repair-guide and parts company iFixit conducted in partnership with NBC News.
NBC News’ Brian Cheung tasked iFixit’s Lead Teardown Technician Shahram Mokhtari with finding out the truth behind the T1, which involved putting it through a modified CT scanner. Cheung struggled to tell the scan apart from another iFixit took of the HTC U24 Pro, with the guts of both devices looking “eerily” similar.
Most parts were in the exact same place aside from the flash, the pixels in the screen had the same non-American pattern, and when opening up the T1, a mention of the Philippines was found inside. The final test involved making a Frankenstein phone out of the pair using the HTC U24 Pro board inside the T1 shell, Cheung was able to boot up the smartphone, which displayed the HTC logo and took a photo.
The device arrived nine months past its original August 2025 launch date, and the box it came in now reads “Proudly Assembled in the USA” rather than the original “Made in the USA.” A security vulnerability also leaked customer home addresses, phone numbers, and email details before retail devices even shipped, suggesting tens of thousands of pre-orders had been exposed.
Trump Mobile spokesperson Chris Walker told USA Today that “T1 phones are proudly being made in America” and called contrary claims “simply inaccurate.” Neither Trump Mobile nor the White House responded to NBC News’ questions.
On January 15, 2026, Senator Elizabeth Warren and ten other Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson requesting an investigation into potential consumer protection violations, asking the agency to determine whether the “Made in USA” marketing constituted false advertising.
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