The Trump phone just got a $250 price hike
Even the Trumps can’t escape RAMageddon.
Even the Trumps can’t escape RAMageddon.
by
Dominic Preston
Sep 10, 2026, 9:13 AM UTC
Photo: Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Part OfRAM price hikes: the latest on the global memory shortagesee all updatesDominic Preston
is a news editor with over a decade’s experience in journalism. He previously worked at
Android Policeand
Tech Advisor.
Bad news if you didn’t lock in a Trump phone at launch: It now costs $749, a $250 increase on its price at launch. The T1 Phone itself hasn’t changed.
Trump Mobile didn’t announce the price increase, instead quietlychanging its website overnight. This wasn’t a total surprise though, especially given the phone ships with an unexpectedly generous 512GB of storage and 12GB of RAM. When Ispoke to two Trump Mobile executivesearlier this year, they called the $499 launch pricing “introductory,” anda few months later, the website itself was changed to reflect that, calling it a “promotional price.” That wording is now gone.
When I reviewed the Trump phone in July, I wasn’t especially impressed, even at $499. At $749 there is absolutely no reason recommend it. You could buy aniPhone 17EorGalaxy S26 FEand have $50 left over to buy a gold case; $50 more would net you an older flagship like theiPhone 16orPixel 10. Any one of these phones would blow the T1 Phone out of the water.
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To my surprise, my Trump phone has receivedsomesupport since it launched. There’s been exactly one software update, moving it from Android’s February 2026 security patch to the May 2026 version. It’s still running Android 15 though, which is now two years old.
While the Trump phoneofficially started shipping in May, almost a year after it wasannounced, it remains unclear just how many customers have received their phones. Areport from the BBC last monthfound that at least some buyers still say their phones never arrived.
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- Dominic Preston
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