Allegations have surfaced that personal information of 27,000 customers was leaked from the website of Trump Mobile, a smartphone company operated by the family of U.S. President Donald Trump.
According to The Guardian on Monday (local time), Trump Mobile said in a statement that it is "investigating the matter with the help of independent cybersecurity experts." The victims are all customers who applied to pre-order the T1, the first smartphone launched by Trump Mobile, with information from those who completed pre-order forms believed to have been exposed.
The Guardian reported that the allegations came to light after an Australian programmer with about 20 years of IT industry experience accidentally discovered the security vulnerability and reported it to Trump Mobile. The programmer declined to disclose his identity, citing concerns about personal attacks. A cryptocurrency YouTuber known as Voidzilla, who said he had pre-ordered the T1, also posted a video stating, "All of my information except my credit card number, including my mailing and email addresses, was leaked."
Trump Mobile said, "To date, no evidence has been found that Trump Mobile's systems, infrastructure, or networks have been directly compromised."
The company added that "the leaked information appears to be limited to certain customer data, including names, emails, mailing addresses, order numbers, and phone numbers," explaining that "sensitive data such as card information, banking details, Social Security numbers (SSN), call records, and text messages do not appear to have been included in the breach."
The figure of 27,000 affected customers was also estimated externally. Jonathan Soma, a professor at Columbia University in New York, analyzed the code from the Australian programmer who reported the breach and stated, "It is structured so that 1 is added to the list with each order attempt, and a cumulative 27,224 pre-orders were recorded."
Trump Mobile said, "We have strengthened additional security measures and monitoring," adding that "we are also reviewing whether to fulfill related notification obligations."
Trump Phone Touted as 'Made in USA'... Star-Spangled Banner Error Sparks Controversy
The Trump Organization, run by the Trump family, announced last June, marking the 10th anniversary of President Trump's presidential bid declaration, that it would launch the T1, a gold-colored smartphone priced at $499 (about 750,000 won). Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., sons of President Trump, promoted it as "a sleek gold smartphone proudly designed and manufactured in America for customers who expect the best." Trump Mobile also operates a budget phone plan at $47.45 per month, a figure that reflects President Trump's non-consecutive terms as the 45th and 47th U.S. president.
However, skepticism over the feasibility of launching a U.S.-made smartphone emerged immediately after the announcement. Leo Gebbie, an analyst at British market research firm CCS Insight, said at the time, "The U.S. does not have the advanced technology supply chain needed for smartphone assembly. In particular, it is impossible to assemble it in time for an August release," while predicting that "it could, however, be assembled in the U.S. with parts imported from overseas."
The experts' predictions proved correct. The T1's release, originally scheduled for August of that year, was delayed by nine months until the middle of this month. The "Made in America" claim emphasized by Trump's sons was also softened to "designed with American values in mind," according to the official website's description. Pat O'Brien, CEO of Trump Mobile, left the door open, saying, "The first T1 phones were assembled in the U.S., and future components will primarily be manufactured locally."
The T1's specifications, now revealed, include a 6.78-inch display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 series processor, a triple camera, and a 5,000 mAh battery. The operating system is Android. The specs trail behind the latest flagship smartphones from Samsung's Galaxy lineup, which also runs on Android, and Apple's iPhone.
Indeed, IT review outlet CNET reported in its T1 review, "It took about an hour to fully charge the T1, which was definitely longer than the charging time of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus." This is because while the latest Samsung Galaxy model supports 45W wired charging, the T1 supports up to 30W wired charging. CNET also added, "It remains unclear whether ordinary consumers, rather than members of the press, have received the product." Contrary to CEO O'Brien's announcement that the phones were "shipping," actual user reviews from consumers have been sparse.
The controversies surrounding the T1 do not end there. U.S. outlet The Verge reported that the American flag on the back of the T1 has only 11 stripes instead of 13. The 13 horizontal stripes represent the 13 colonies at the time of American independence. The wrong flag was printed on a phone launched on the basis of patriotic marketing. Claims have also emerged that the T1 closely resembles a 2024 smartphone from Taiwan's HTC.
