Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and 10 other Democratic members of Congress today urged the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Trump Mobile’s broken promises related to Trump phone delivery dates and claims that it is “made in the USA.”
The request isn’t likely to get very far. Trump declared early in his second term that independent agencies like the FTC may no longer operate independently from the White House, and FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson has backed Trump’s claim of authority over historically independent agencies. The Supreme Court appears likely to approve Trump’s firing of an FTC Democrat, giving him expanded power over the agency.
The letter, led by Warren and other lawmakers, was sent to Ferguson. “We write today regarding questions about false advertising and deceptive practices by Trump Mobile, and to seek information on how the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) intends to address any potential violations of consumer protection law given the inherent conflicts of interest presented by the company’s relationship to President Donald Trump,” the letter said.
The letter asked the FTC to “commit to treating Trump Mobile according to the same standards and enforcement priorities applied to other companies engaged in similar conduct.”
Warren and fellow lawmakers previously wrote to Ferguson and other regulators in August 2025 about Trump Mobile allowing Trump “to profit off of his presidency” while appointing the regulators that oversee the mobile marketplace. The August letter asked specific questions, but the FTC did not respond to the lawmakers, today’s letter said.
“Critical test” of FTC independence
“The FTC’s response to any violations of consumer protection law by Trump Mobile will serve as a critical test of the FTC’s independence and commitment to its mission of ‘protecting the public from deceptive or unfair business practices,’” the new letter said, requesting a response to another round of questions by February 15.
The letter asked how many complaints the FTC has received about Trump Mobile and what the FTC would do “if the President were to intervene and seek to influence your agency’s decisions related to Trump Mobile.” We contacted the FTC and Trump Mobile today about Warren’s letter and will update this article if either provides a response.