Earlier this week, The Trump Organisation announced the launch of its own mobile phone service, cleverly named Trump Mobile, and its first handset, the T1.

The astonished world was even treated to a preview of the T1, which looks either like a handsome bar of gold bullion or a low-quality render of a yellowy phone, depending on your perspective. Its chief features are an uneven bezel and a curious formation of camera lenses spread further apart than a deer’s eyes.   

But what if you want all the glamour of a T1, without shelling out $499 – or if you’re based in Europe and are unsure whether one of these beauties will ever be available to you? Well, fret not, because we’ll show you how to build your own Trump-branded mobile phone, for less.

Here’s what you’ll need.

1. A budget handset

The first step is to identify a T1-comparable handset.

The freshly-launched Trump Mobile site features the phone’s specs – or at least some of them. There’s no information on the phone’s processor, which is odd as that’ll dictate the phone’s responsiveness and how well it can handle demanding tasks. It’s key to user experience. But who needs a high-quality user experience when you have a majestic gold (coloured) phone? So forget about that.

Here are the key specs we do know:

• 6.8-inch AMOLED screen
• 120Hz refresh rate
• 50Mp main camera
• 5000mAh battery
• 256GB internal storage

None of these specs would look out of place on a $499 phone, but you can get the same or better from many cheaper handsets.

Leaker Max Weinbach thinks the T1 is based on Wingtech’s Revvl 7 Pro. However, GSMArena comparisons suggest the phone is likely to be a hybrid between this and the regular Revvl 7.

The good news here is that while the T1 is priced at £372/$499, the Revvl 7 costs only £162/$218 and the Revvl 7 Pro £196/$264.

The bad news is that PCMag stingily termed the Revvl 7 Pro as only “a decent affordable phone”.

So we say: treat yourself. Last year’s Samsung Galaxy A35 has an MSRP of £339/$399.99.

Luke Baker

That’s still considerably less than the T1, and it has a user experience we can vouch for and comparable, or better, specs:

• One UI 6.1 (based on Android 14) with software updates until 2029
• 6.6-inch display, 2340×1080, AMOLED, 120Hz refresh rate
• In-display fingerprint sensor
• Exynos 1380 processor
• 6GB RAM
• 128GB storage
• Cameras:
  • 50Mp main sensor
  • 8Mp ultrawide
  • 5Mp macro
  • 13Mp selfie camera
• Up to 4K @ 30fps rear video
• Dual-SIM
• Micro-SD card slot
• 5000mAh battery
• 25W charging
• 161.7 x 78.0 x 8.2 mm
• IP67 water and dust resistance

2. A picture of a flag

Looking at the T1 render, it’s not clear why the time is displayed twice on the home screen, or whether there will be a choice of patriotic wallpapers for the proud T1 owner.

We can’t promise that you can replicate these features precisely, which may mean only seeing the time displayed once on your phone. But if you can take a blurry photo of a flag, you are more than halfway there.

3. A gold phone case

But it’s not a Trump phone unless it shimmers like a spray-tanned jowl. So head over to Temu and pick up this “stylish and elegant” gold case for just £2.55.

Temu

For a more authentic experience, you can spend £4.19 on a can of gold spray paint from Amazon and then your phone will still whisper class (or at least a word that sounds a lot like it), even if you remove the cover.

Total cost

By our maths, you shouldn’t be paying more than £205/$275 for a DIY Trump phone kit. Go for the mid-range Samsung Galaxy A35, and we’d say it should cost you £350/$410, even with a can of spray paint thrown in.

But isn’t the Trump phone manufactured in the US?

But wait – you are almost certainly not thinking – isn’t the entire point of the T1 that it’s “Proudly Made in America”?

Well, no. According Wired, there’s only one phone that’s entirely made in America (proudly or otherwise), and that’s the Liberty Phone from Purism, which retails at around $2,000. Leaker Max Weinbach, who suggested the T1 could be based on the Wingtech Revvl 7 Pro, believes it would be made in one of three Chinese cities.

And if you honestly believe the T1 will have a similar bespoke manufacturing process for a mid-range price, I have another gold phone to sell you.  

In fact, Eric Trump later explained that the manufacturing claim was more of a wish and that: “Eventually, all the phones can be built in the United States of America.”

In the meantime, for a better buy, check out our round-ups of the best budget phones and the best mid-range phones.