House Commerce Democratic Leaders to Probe T-Mobile Arrangement With Trump Mobile
Three top House Commerce Committee Democrats said Wednesday they're opening an investigation into reports that mobile virtual network operator Trump Mobile (see 2506160040) would operate on T-Mobile’s network, claiming that “raises the appearance of a quid pro quo between [the carrier] and President [Donald] Trump regarding the direction of our country’s spectrum policies.” Word of the probe came as T-Mobile announced it once again was the U.S. wireless industry leader on subscriber growth in Q2 (see 2507230066)
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“While we understand that Trump Mobile is operating through Liberty Mobile Wireless LLC (Liberty Mobile), it has been reported that Liberty Mobile currently maintains a [MVNO] agreement with” T-Mobile, said House Commerce ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., Communications Subcommittee ranking member Doris Matsui, D-Calif., and Congressional Black Caucus Chair Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., in a letter to T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert. “Additionally, it was reported that the coverage map for Trump Mobile appears nearly identical to the coverage map of Ultra Mobile, an MVNO T-Mobile owns. The website for Trump Mobile also indicates that the service will provide the ‘same coverage as the 3 nationwide phone service carriers,’ which includes T-Mobile.”
Pallone and the other Democrats told Sievert they are “specifically concerned that T-Mobile’s business relationship with the Trump Organization [while Trump is U.S. president] presents a conflict of interest that will harm the American people” given the president's authority to appoint the FCC chair. T-Mobile “is now well-positioned to use its relationship with Trump Mobile to gain favorable regulatory decisions affecting the company ... without any regard as to whether those decisions are in the public interest,” the lawmakers said.
The “arrangement also raises questions about the negotiations between your company and the Trump Organization regarding Trump Mobile and the spectrum agreement that was included in the recent passage of the” budget reconciliation package, formerly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (see 2507030056), the Democrats said. “While we do not disagree that additional spectrum must be made available for commercial wireless use, it is imperative that our country’s spectrum policies ... are not being compromised to benefit” Trump and his family, the Democrats said. They want T-Mobile to respond by Aug. 6 with information about the carrier’s communications with White House officials and the Trump Organization since the Trump administration began Jan. 20.
T-Mobile didn't immediately comment.