Sen. Hassan Says FCC Records Show No International Calling Authorization for Trump Mobile, Demands Answers by Oct. 29

Trump Mobile advertises calls to more than 230 countries and territories. According to a 13-page letter from Sen. Maggie Hassan, the FCC has no record that the company is authorized to provide them.

Hassan, the top Democrat on the Joint Economic Committee, sent the letter to Trump Mobile CEO Patrick O'Brien on Thursday, Oct. 8. She wants answers by Oct. 29.

The FCC filings

Hassan's central claim is about Section 214 of the Communications Act of 1934. She says a search of the FCC's International Communications Filing System "suggests that Trump Mobile does not hold the necessary authorization" for international service. She says the requirement covers resellers like Trump Mobile, a mobile virtual network operator that rents capacity from other carriers, as well as carriers that own networks.

The authorization process requires disclosure of foreign ownership, which the FCC uses to assess national security risks. Hassan's point is that without the filing, nobody can see who is actually delivering those calls. "The apparent absence of authorization for Trump Mobile international services raises questions about who is providing or reselling the international telecommunications services advertised by Trump Mobile," she wrote.

She also cited two FCC precedents: a 2012 ruling against another carrier that operated without Section 214 authority, and the 2021 revocation of China Telecom Americas' authorization.

A second set of findings concerns robocalls. Hassan says a search of the FCC's Robocall Mitigation Database returns no records for Trump Mobile or its operating name, T1 Mobile LLC. Liberty Mobile Wireless, the Florida company Trump Mobile has described as the technical, legal and financial foundation of its service, did file. But Hassan says its latest filing lacks the required description of its know-your-customer procedures.

She adds that both companies offer "streamlined service activation that can make it easier for scammers to obtain U.S. numbers."

The breach

The letter also cites the data theft that surfaced this month. A criminal group called BYOD claims it stole data on 3,615 Trump Mobile customers, including names, email addresses, phone numbers, home addresses and order details. BYOD says it got in by installing a remote access Trojan on a Liberty Mobile employee's computer. A second group, Endzone, has also claimed to have stolen company data.

BYOD posted a file of the data. Three people listed in it told PCMag they had dealt with Trump Mobile. Straight Arrow News reported that the file includes Eric Brunnett, the Trump Organization's chief information officer, and that no Trump family members appeared in it.

Hassan flagged what the hackers say happened next. BYOD claims that when it notified Trump Mobile, the company replied: "We have no team to handle this." That quote comes from the criminals, and Trump Mobile has not been shown to have confirmed it.

This is not the first exposure tied to the brand. Earlier this year two YouTubers said their data leaked from the Trump Mobile website. The flaw was fixed. The episode also showed the company had roughly 10,000 unique customers, not the 590,000 figure that had circulated online. Hassan notes that a vendor Trump Mobile uses has previously exposed customers' personal data online, which the company confirmed.

What Hassan is asking for

The letter asks O'Brien about Trump Mobile's ownership structure, whether it owns, manages or controls Liberty Mobile, its relationships with other carriers, how it verifies subscribers, and its compliance with FCC rules. It also asks where the components in its phones come from.

That last question follows the T1 phone saga. The company launched in June 2025 and promised a phone made entirely in the U.S. It dropped that claim and shipped preorders nearly a year late. The price went from $499 to $749. The letter notes the device is reportedly a near match for the HTC U24 Pro, a 2024 phone.

Hassan has also asked the FCC to review the matter and brief the committee's minority staff.

What the letter does and doesn't establish

This is a Democratic senator's letter, built on the committee minority's searches of public FCC records. Her own language is hedged: the records "suggest," the companies "may not" have filed, authorization is "apparently" absent. The letter does not say how Trump Mobile actually routes international calls, and a missing database entry under one name is not an FCC finding of a violation.

Trump Mobile's earlier description of Liberty Mobile as the foundation of its service is one reason Hassan is asking who holds control and authority over those services. Whether an arrangement with Liberty or another carrier covers the international calling is exactly what she is asking the company to disclose.

No FCC investigation, enforcement action or charge has been announced. Trump Mobile licenses the Trump name from the Trump family, and the company has not publicly answered the letter's specific allegations.

The next marker is Oct. 29, when O'Brien's answers are due. Whether the FCC agrees to the briefing Hassan requested is the other open question.