Public relations firms specialize in putting a positive spin on difficult situations. But sometimes, a corporate mess grows too large even for seasoned professionals. In the latest twist for the tumultuous T1 Phone saga, the PR team responsible for managing Trump Mobile‘s public image has officially jumped ship. The Poplar Group confirmed that it ended its year-long relationship with the smartphone brand, leaving the company to handle growing media scrutiny completely on its own.
As The Verge reports, the partnership dissolved roughly one year after the parties signed their initial contract. Chris Walker, founding partner and media relations manager at Poplar Group, claimed his team is no longer assisting Trump Mobile. When questioned about the current media setup, Walker noted that he does not know if Trump Mobile secured a replacement agency to manage incoming press requests.
A year of shifting narratives
The departure highlights just how complicated the public image surrounding the $499 Android device has become. Back when the project launched, Walker gave a prominent statement to USA Today claiming that the T1 Phone was manufactured directly within the United States. However, that narrative quickly fell apart. Trump Mobile later altered its marketing materials to say the phones are merely “assembled in America.” Notably, the company now openly admits this change.
The operational headaches worsened when tech watchdogs began looking closely at the hardware itself. The most serious blow landed when the repair experts at iFixit conducted a complete component teardown. Their investigation proved that the T1 Phone is essentially a modified, gold-plated version of the HTC U24 Pro. Both devices share the exact same internal mainboard and display connectors despite sporting a $499 price tag that the company calls an “introductory rate.”
Where are the preorders?
While the phone is technically available, actual deliveries remain incredibly rare. Roughly 600,000 customers originally placed a $100 deposit to secure a reservation. This generated around $60 million in upfront cash for the startup. Despite that massive influx of early capital, only a handful of genuine buyers on platforms like X and Truth Social have actually received their devices. Media outlets that preordered testing units are also still waiting for shipments to arrive.
With the PR wall completely gone, Trump Mobile must now address these fulfillment questions and hardware criticisms without a buffer. Whether the company intends to hire a new corporate voice or simply avoid the media altogether remains to be seen, but the road ahead for the T1 looks increasingly rocky.
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