Trump Mobile’s refurbished iPhones are an unsurprisingly bad deal

It is well established that the Trump Phone does not exist. But it’s not the only phone sold by Trump Mobile. It also has a range of refurbished Apple and Samsung handsets that you can buy right away. But you really shouldn’t do it.

I was relieved to read Allison’s reporting over the past two weeks and discover that no All about Trump Mobile is a scam. It may have taken him a few weeks to get a SIM card, but once he got there, it worked great — it’s T-Mobile, after all. This made me realize that you could, if you wanted, get Trump Mobile coverage right now on a phone sold by Trump Mobile, as long as you don’t mind the hardware not having “American hands behind every device.”

Trump Mobile’s online store is currently selling four phones, in addition to its $100 deposit for the T1 phone. You can buy a Samsung Galaxy S23 or S24, or an Apple iPhone 14 or 15. Neither of these models is the latest model: both Samsungs launched in 2023 and 2024 respectively, and the iPhones are even older, from 2022 and 2023. You can also only get the base models of each. And I mean the basics – not only does Trump Mobile not sell any of the Plus, Ultra, Pro or Pro Max versions of these phones, it doesn’t even sell higher storage SKUs – it’s 128GB or bust. You can’t even choose what color you buy, so I hope you like black.

This simplicity makes it quite easy to check whether these phones are good value for money or not. Surprise, surprise, they’re not.

This iPhone 14 will cost you $489, with the 15 being $629. Apple itself doesn’t even sell the refurbished iPhone 14 anymore, but its 15 costs $529 – $100 less than Trump prices – and sells the new 16E for $599. Things only get worse if you shop around. Amazon is offering the two phones for $305 and $429.99 respectively, Best Buy for $327 and $479.97, and Back Market for $398 or $536 – and that’s for its most expensive “Premium” device tier. So far I haven’t found anywhere who sells refurbished iPhones for more than Trump Mobile, and Roman Loyola couldn’t do it either. Macmonde.

The company seems a little better for Galaxy phones, where it is at least undercutting Samsung. At $369 for an S23 and $459 for an S24 from Trump Mobile, they’re significantly cheaper than the iPhones and better than Samsung’s refreshed prices of $519 and $599. Yet look elsewhere and it’s a familiar story, with the older S23 available for $249 at Amazon, $249 at Best Buy, and $290 at Back Market for the best deals available, all cheaper than Trump Mobile.

Does Trump Mobile offer a premium service that matches this price? Not obviously. It’s unclear who exactly is refurbishing these phones, nor does the store’s page guarantee that they used official parts in their repairs, although all four refurbished phones are described as having been “brought to life right here in the United States.” No warranty is mentioned, while Apple, Samsung and Back Market all promise a one-year warranty on their refurbished phones.

There’s even some characteristic sloppiness in the product pages, which use the same ordering interface as the T1 phone’s repositories, promising that you can “be the first to get your renewed iPhone 14” (again, this is a three-year-old phone), and that you’ll “only be charged $489.00 today” – the full price of the phone.

So no, if you’re looking forward to your T1 Phone 8002, you probably shouldn’t buy a Trump refurbished iPhone instead. We’re all going to have to hold on a little longer.

As always, Trump Mobile did not respond to my request for comment.