By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, Associated Press Technology Writer

A golden phone that President Donald Trump’s family business promised to release last year remains mysteriously under wraps as the technology industry serves up a glut of new gadgets at CES in Las Vegas this week.

Related Articles

Big Tech’s fast-expanding plans for data centers are running into stiff community opposition

Hyundai and Boston Dynamics unveil humanoid robot Atlas at CES

Hilton, Minnesota hotel apologize for email canceling immigration agents’ rooms

McDonald’s facing class action lawsuit over ‘deceptive’ McRib meat

US-based multinational companies will be exempt from global tax deal

When the Trump Organization launched a mobile phone service last June, it was supposed to be a stage setter for a new smartphone bathed in gold with a $500 price tag — a bargain compared to Apple’s latest iPhone models that sell for anywhere from $800 to $1,200. The newly formed Trump Mobile targeted its T1 phone for an August or September release.

What’s more, Trump Mobile initially hailed T1 as a device that would be “proudly designed and built in the United States for customers who expect the best.”

But both the T1’s shipping date and U.S. manufacturing ambitions gradually began to shift, even as Trump Mobile continues to accept $100 deposits for the device.

Not long after announcing the device, Trump Mobile pivoted from describing it as phone that would be made in the U.S. to framing it as a device that would be “proudly American.” Trump Mobile’s website now touts the T1 as having an “American-proud” design, with no further explanation.

Analysts believed that the shift stemmed from a recognition that the U.S. lacked the supply chain and other logistics required to make a smartphone for less than $1,000 — the same hurdles that made it implausible for Apple to acquiesce to President Trump’s demands that the company move its iPhone manufacturing from China and India.

Later in the summer, Trump Mobile also became more vague about when the T1 would become available, but still indicated it would be delivered to customers who paid the $100 deposit by the end of 2025. Trump Mobile’s website continues to list the T1’s targeted release date as “later this year.”

The Trump Organization didn’t respond to inquiries from The Associated Press about the delays or when the device is now expected to be shipped. The Financial Times recently reported that it was told by a customer representative for Trump Mobile that the phone will be shipped in late January and attributed its delayed release to the 43-day shutdown of the federal government last year.

Whatever the reason, the T1’s ongoing absence from the smartphone market didn’t come as a surprise to International Data Corp. analyst Francisco Jeronimo.

“We have always been quite skeptical about this phone,” Jeronimo said. “They are probably finding that it is harder to build a phone than they thought it would be. Let’s see if this thing comes to life or not.”

While the T1 has remained in a holding pattern, Trump Mobile has been selling its wireless service for $47.45 per month — a price tied to Donald Trump’s titles as the 47th and 45th President. For customers looking for a smartphone that they can use sooner rather than later, Trump Mobile is also selling refurbished versions of older iPhones and Samsung’s Galaxy models at prices ranging from $370 to $630.

“Maybe they changed their strategy and figured out they are better off just selling refurbished phones,” Jeronimo said.

By VALERIE GONZALEZ, Associated Press

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) — Families of students killed in the Uvalde, Texas, school massacre are among those who could testify at the trial of a police officer who was part of the hesitant law enforcement response and is charged with failing to protect children from the teenage gunman.

Opening statements were set to begin Tuesday, a day after a judge seated a jury in what is a rare case of charges being brought against an officer who is accused of not doing more to save lives. Authorities waited more than an hour to confront the shooter.

A line forms at the Nueces County Courthouse in Corpus Christi, Texas, as jury selection continues in the trial for former Uvalde school district police officer Adrian Gonzales, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Adrian Gonzales, a former Uvalde schools officer who was among the first to respond to what was one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history, has pleaded not guilty. His attorney has said the officer tried to save children that day.

Gonzales faces 29 counts of child abandonment or endangerment and could be sentenced to a maximum of two years in prison if he’s convicted.

He and former Uvalde schools police chief Pete Arredondo are the only two officers to face criminal charges over the response. Arredondo’s trial has not been scheduled.

Some families of the victims were upset that more officers were not charged given that nearly 400 federal, state and local officers converged on the school soon after the 2022 attack.

Terrified students inside the classrooms called 911 and parents outside begged for intervention by officers, some of whom could hear shots being fired while they stood in a hallway. A tactical team of officers eventually went into the classroom and killed the shooter.

The gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary.

An investigation found 77 minutes passed from the time authorities arrived until the tactical team breached the classroom and killed Salvador Ramos, who was obsessed with violence and notoriety in the months leading up to the shooting.

The trial for Gonzales was expected to last about two weeks, Judge Sid Harle said. Before seating the jury Monday, he told several hundred potential jurors that the court was not looking for those who know nothing about the shooting but wants jurors who can be impartial.

Close to 100 people were dismissed after saying they already formed opinions.

Related Articles

New report shows a 25% drop in deaths of on-duty law enforcement officers

Today in History: January 6, former KKK leader indicted 41 years after killing civil rights workers

What to know about the Trump administration’s latest moves on child care funding

A rare whale is having an encouraging season for births. Scientists warn it might still go extinct

Record $9.6 million fine for Third Coast after substantial oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico

Among the potential witnesses are FBI agents, Texas Rangers, emergency dispatchers and school employees.

At the request of Gonzales’ attorneys, the trial was moved to Corpus Christi after they argued Gonzales could not receive a fair trial in Uvalde.

The indictment accuses Gonzales of putting children in “imminent danger” of injury or death by failing to engage, distract or delay the shooter and by not following his training. The allegations also say he did not go toward the gunfire despite hearing shots and being told the shooter’s location.

State and federal reviews of the shooting cited cascading problems in law enforcement training, communication, leadership and technology, and questioned why officers waited so long.

According to the state review, Gonzales told investigators that once police realized there were students still sitting in other classrooms, he helped evacuate them.

Prosecutors likely will face a high bar to win a conviction. Juries are often reluctant to convict law enforcement officers for inaction, as seen after the Parkland, Florida, school massacre in 2018.

Sheriff’s deputy Scot Peterson was charged with failing to confront the shooter in that attack. It was the first such prosecution in the U.S. for an on-campus shooting, and Peterson was acquitted by a jury in 2023.

Associated Press writers Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas, Juan A. Lozano in Houston and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed to this report.

By SEUNG MIN KIM, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will gather with House Republicans on Tuesday to ensure they’re aligned on their agenda at the start of a critical midterm election year that could alter the course of his final two years in office.

Related Articles

Fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack brings fresh division to the Capitol

What Americans think about the situation in Venezuela, according to recent polls

European leaders push back on Trump’s comments about a US takeover of Greenland

Military action in Venezuela emerges as an issue in a closely watched GOP primary in Kentucky

Danish prime minister says a US takeover of Greenland would mark the end of NATO

GOP lawmakers are hosting a daylong policy forum at the Kennedy Center, the performing arts venue on the other side of Washington from the Capitol. Its board, which is stacked with Trump loyalists, recently voted to rename it the Trump Kennedy Center, though that move is being challenged in court.

House Republicans are convening as they launch their new year agenda, with health care issues in particular dogging the GOP heading into the midterm elections. Votes on extending expired health insurance subsidies are expected as soon as this week, and it’s unclear whether the president and the party will try to block its passage.

Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., are trying to corral Republican lawmakers when GOP leaders have a thin majority in the chamber. Meanwhile, rank-and-file lawmakers have felt increasingly emboldened enough to buck Trump and the leadership’s wishes, such as on the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

With Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s resignation taking effect at midnight Tuesday, Republican leaders now have a 219-213 majority in the House.

The meeting also comes after the Trump administration’s dramatic capture of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, which occurred after a monthslong U.S. campaign to pressure the now-deposed leader by building up American forces in the waters off South America and bombing boats alleged to have been carrying drugs.

The Maduro capture is reigniting the debate about Trump’s powers over Congress to authorize the campaign against Venezuela, though House Republican lawmakers have largely been supportive of the administration’s efforts there.

Among the topics likely to be discussed on Tuesday are promoting and implementing the GOP’s marquee tax-and-border legislation, as well as a broader affordability agenda and midterm politics, according to a Republican official who was involved in the planning of the meeting and insisted on anonymity to discuss it.

Republicans are also mulling a potential second tax bill that could be passed with just party line votes while confronting the possibility of a potential partial government shutdown at the end of the month.

It is unclear why House Republicans chose the Kennedy Center venue for their off-campus session. House GOP meetings are generally held in the Capitol or a nearby site off campus if they are discussing political matters. The speaker’s office did not respond to a request for further comment.

AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.

By LISA MASCARO, Associated Press Congressional Correspondent

WASHINGTON (AP) — Five years ago outside the White House, the outgoing President Donald Trump told a crowd of his supporters to head to the Capitol — “and I’ll be there with you” — in protest as Congress was affirming the 2020 election victory for Democrat Joe Biden.

Related Articles

European leaders push back on Trump’s comments about a US takeover of Greenland

Military action in Venezuela emerges as an issue in a closely watched GOP primary in Kentucky

Danish prime minister says a US takeover of Greenland would mark the end of NATO

Cuba faces uncertain future after US topples Venezuelan leader Maduro

FACT FOCUS: Fabricated and misrepresented images shared widely online after US removal of Maduro

A short time later, the world watched as the seat of U.S. power descended into chaos, and democracy hung in the balance.

On the fifth anniversary of Jan. 6, 2021, there is no official event to memorialize what happened that day, when the mob made its way down Pennsylvania Avenue, battled police at the Capitol barricades and stormed inside, as lawmakers fled. The political parties refuse to agree to a shared history of the events, which were broadcast around the globe. And the official plaque honoring the police who defended the Capitol has never been hung.

Instead, Trump will meet privately with House Republicans at the Kennedy Center, which the president has rebranded to carry his own name, for a policy forum. Democrats will hold a hearing with witnesses to the violence and later gather on the Capitol steps to mark the memory of what happened.

And the former leader of the militant Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, is staging a midday march retracing the rioters’ steps from the White House to the Capitol to honor Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt and others who died in the Jan. 6 siege and its aftermath.

“I ask those that are able to attend please do so,” Tarrio said on social media feed X.

Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years in prison for seditious conspiracy for having orchestrated the Jan. 6 attack, and he is among more than 1,500 defendants who saw their charges dropped when Trump issued a sweeping pardon on his return to the White House last year. “This will be a PATRIOTIC and PEACEFUL march. If you have any intention of causing trouble we ask that you stay home,” Tarrio wrote.

Echoes of 5 years ago

The Jan. 6 events, being held inside and outside, carry echoes of the split screen five years ago, as the House and the Senate gathered to affirm the election results while the Republican president’s supporters swarmed.

This milestone anniversary unfolds while attention is focused elsewhere, particularly after the U.S. military’s stunning capture of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and Trump’s plans to take over the country and prop up its vast oil industry, a striking new era of American expansionism.

“These people in the administration, they want to lecture the world about democracy when they’re undermining the rule of law at home, as we all will be powerfully reminded,” House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said on the eve of the anniversary.

Democrats revive an old committee, Republicans lead a new one

The Democratic leadership is reconvening the now defunct Jan. 6 committee to hear from police, elected officials and regular Americans about what they experienced that day.

Among those expected to testify is former Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, who along with former Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming were the two Republicans on the panel that investigated Trump’s efforts to overturn Biden’s win. Cheney, who lost her own reelection bid to a Trump-backed challenger, is not expected to appear.

Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk of Georgia, who has been tapped by House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana to lead a new committee to probe other theories about what happened on Jan. 6, rejected Tuesday’s session as a “partisan exercise” designed to hurt Trump and his allies.

Many Republicans reject the narrative that Trump sparked the Jan. 6 attack, and Johnson, before he became the House speaker, had led challenges to the 2020 election. He was among some 130 GOP lawmakers voting that day to reject the presidential results from some states.

Instead, they have instead focused on security lapses at the Capitol — from the time it took for the National Guard to arrive on the scene to the failure of the police canine units to discover the pipe bombs found that day outside Republican and Democratic party headquarters. The FBI arrested a Virginia man suspected of placing the pipe bombs, and he told investigators last month he believed someone needed to speak up for those who believed the 2020 election was stolen, authorities say.

“The Capitol Complex is no more secure today than it was on January 6,” Loudermilk said in a social media post. “My Select Subcommittee remains committed to transparency and accountability and ensuring the security failures that occurred on January 6 and the partisan investigation that followed never happens again.”

The aftermath of Jan. 6

Five people died in the Capitol siege and its aftermath, including Babbitt, who was shot and killed by police while trying to climb through the window of a door near the House chamber, and Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick died later after battling the mob. Several law enforcement personnel died later, some by suicide.

The Justice Department indicted Trump on four counts in a conspiracy to defraud voters with his claims of a rigged election in the run-up to the Jan. 6 attack.

Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith told lawmakers last month that the riot at the Capitol “does not happen” without Trump. He ended up abandoning the case once Trump was reelected president, adhering to department guidelines against prosecuting a sitting president.

Trump, who never made it to the Capitol that day as he hunkered down at the White House, was impeached by the House on the sole charge of having incited the insurrection. The Senate acquitted him after top GOP senators said they believed the matter was best left to the courts.

Ahead of the 2024 election, the Supreme Court ruled ex-presidents have broad immunity from prosecution.