What to know:
- Sixteen months after launch, the Trump Mobile T1 phone has collected about $60 million in $100 deposits from roughly 600,000 buyers, but has not delivered a single confirmed device, media reports indicate.
- An April update to Trump Mobile’s terms of service states that deposits are only a conditional opportunity to buy a phone, with no contractual delivery obligation, refund mechanism or guarantee that a device will ever be offered.
- The TRUMP memecoin has fallen about 97% from its peak to $2.45, with onchain data showing billions in estimated retail losses and a shrinking holder base as large insider token unlocks continue to add selling pressure.
- Both the phone venture and the TRUMP token capitalized on early political enthusiasm around Donald Trump, but have since struggled to convert that momentum into delivered products or durable investor demand.
Both of Donald Trump’s new retail businesses are facing challenges just months after launching, but they’re struggling with different issues.
Since it was first announced, approximately 600,000 people have put down $100 deposits on the gold Trump Mobile T1 phone, totaling around $60 million. However, as of May 2026, no actual phones have been delivered, according to Moneywise.
As a crypto investor, I’ve been looking into where funds were actually going with Trump Mobile. It turns out the deposits weren’t going directly to a Trump-owned company, but to T1 Mobile LLC. This company is linked to DTTM Operations, LLC, which basically handles all the branding, trademarks, and rights to use Donald Trump’s name and image on merchandise. So, the money was flowing through these entities related to Trump’s intellectual property.
It’s been reported that the gold-plated Trump phones, pre-ordered with $100 deposits by around 590,000 people, haven’t been delivered despite promises of shipment by September. NBC News, having purchased one, attempted to contact the company but found only an email address – no phone number. When they requested a refund, they were reportedly denied.
— Suzie rizzio (@Suzierizzo1) November 26, 2025
The expected delivery date has been repeatedly delayed. Originally planned for late summer 2025, it was pushed back to November, then December, and finally to early 2026. Now, the delivery date has been removed from the website altogether.
IBTimes reports that the company changed its terms of service in April to state that deposits are simply a chance to purchase the device if the company decides to sell it, meaning there’s no longer a firm agreement. CoinDesk hasn’t verified the older version of these terms.
Trump Mobile did not respond to a request for comment send by email as of publication time.
The TRUMP memecoin, which is a separate project, has faced its own challenges. It started at $1.21 in January 2025, quickly jumped to $73 in just two days thanks to a surge of interest around the inauguration, but has been steadily decreasing in value for the past sixteen months.
The cryptocurrency TRUMP closed at $2.45 on Monday, a significant drop from its highest value and down 82% for the year, according to CoinGecko. Chainalysis estimates that individual investors in TRUMP have lost around $2 billion since the cryptocurrency was first launched.
The TRUMP token initially had 80% of its supply controlled by groups linked to Donald Trump – CIC Digital and Fight Fight Fight. These tokens were set to be released gradually, around $500,000 worth each day, until mid-2028. While this release schedule was known from the start, it has led to consistent selling pressure, especially as fewer people are interested in buying the token.
Trading volume for the TRUMP token has significantly decreased. It peaked at almost $7 billion with around 400,000 traders on January 20, 2025, but fell to about $16 million with only 4,200 traders by May 5, 2026, according to data from Dune Analytics tracked by user @seoul.
Trading activity and the number of unique daily traders have plummeted by 99%. The average trade is now only $260, down from around $2,700, indicating that most of the remaining trading is coming from individual retail investors instead of the larger, more active traders who initially drove the surge.
The percentage of TRUMP token holders with over $1,000 worth of the token has drastically dropped, from around 19% when it launched to just 2% now. This means most TRUMP holders currently have very small amounts of the token. The token now relies on a large number of small investors, and there are no longer any significant holders who could substantially influence the price.
People who currently hold TRUMP tokens are facing a growing challenge to regain the high values seen when the token first launched. With the token price where it is now, the upcoming release of insider-held tokens could add over $2.5 billion worth of new supply to the market.
To fully utilize that available supply, demand would need to surge to levels the token hasn’t experienced since its creation. Currently, the token’s value has decreased by 13.6% over the last month and by about 0.1% today.
As a crypto investor, I remember the buzz around the dinner Donald Trump hosted for the top 220 token holders back in May 2025. It initially caused a price jump, but unfortunately, that rally didn’t last – it fizzled out pretty quickly. Then, just before the July 2025 unlock, Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, announced he was buying $100 million worth of the TRUMP token. Despite that big commitment, the token’s price just kept dropping in the following months, which was disappointing.
Senators Elizabeth Warren, Adam Schiff, and Richard Blumenthal have requested information regarding former President Trump’s involvement with a planned cryptocurrency and business conference at Mar-a-Lago on April 25, 2026. The event, limited to holders of the TRUMP token—with special access reserved for the top 29—prompted the senators to ask for documents detailing the President’s promotion of the conference.
Both Trump-themed digital tokens and his recent mobile app projects started with a surge of initial excitement from supporters. However, they’ve both had trouble maintaining that early momentum and haven’t yet delivered on their promises or kept prices stable.
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2026-05-11 15:43