The Verge said it spoke via video call with two Trump Mobile executives, who held up the phone so it could be seen. The interview follows doubts about whether the phone will ever be released, after its second advertised launch date of the end of 2025 came and went without any status updates.

The Verge also recently uncovered documentation from the Federal Communications Commission authorizing what appears to be the T1 phone. The FCC documents show that a phone from Smart Gadgets Global -- whose CEO is listed as Eric Thomas, a Trump Mobile executive -- was certified by the FCC in January. The Smart Gadgets Global website is mostly empty, apart from some stock images of technology. The AI chatbot on the site could not provide any information on the T1 phone.