Trump expressed frustration in a series of Truth Social posts Monday afternoon, writing that "AT&T is totally unable to make their equipment work properly" as he attempted to connect with faith leaders across the country12. The call, which included between 8,000 and 10,000 Christian, Jewish, and Muslim leaders, was delayed by approximately 20 minutes34.

"This is the second time it's happened. If the Boss of AT&T, whoever that may be, could get involved — It would be good. There are tens of thousands of people on the line!" Trump posted56.

The president later apologized to participants and warned: "We may have to reschedule the call, but we'll use another carrier the next time. AT&T obviously doesn't know what they're doing!"25

AT&T quickly responded to the White House complaints, with representatives stating they had "reached out to the White House and are working to quickly understand and assess the situation"12.

However, the company later disputed Trump's characterization of the problem. In a statement on X, AT&T said "the disruption was caused by an issue with the conference call platform, not our network"13.

Despite the delay, the call proceeded with Trump speaking for about 15 minutes on topics including tax reform provisions, the Israel-Iran ceasefire, and pardons issued to anti-abortion activists, according to a White House official24.

This marks the latest friction between Trump and AT&T, which he previously criticized during his first term when the company owned CNN12. The telecommunications giant contributed $1 million to Trump's inauguration committee, according to the Wall Street Journal2.

The timing is notable as Trump's family business recently launched Trump Mobile, a new wireless service and smartphone offering that competes in the telecommunications market13.

AT&T shares briefly declined following Trump's posts before recovering13. The call represented the first in a planned series of regular White House conversations with religious leaders45.