US president Donald Trump may ‘hate’ the upcoming iOS 26 update from Apple soon after the iPhone 17 launch. Apple’s upcoming iPhone software update, iOS 26, has sparked concerns among members of the US Republican Party. According to reports, leaders fear that the new system could disrupt conservative fundraising and voter outreach efforts ahead of the midterm elections.
The iOS 26 update, expected to roll out in September, introduces an upgraded text filtering tool that automatically diverts messages from unsaved numbers into a separate folder without triggering notifications. While texts from saved contacts will continue to work normally, political strategists believe the change could have a significant impact on campaign communication.
American Made Media Company, the parent firm of Launchpad Strategies and the exclusive digital partner for Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, warned that the feature could undermine outreach efforts that rely heavily on texting to engage new or undecided voters. Speaking to Fox News, Sean Dollman, founding partner of the firm, accused Apple of trying to silence Republicans: “It’s no surprise that Big Tech wants to stop Donald Trump and other Republicans from communicating with people… But MAGA won’t be stopped, and MAGA will always find a way.”
Fundraisers argue the timing could be especially damaging, as Republicans leaned on text messaging nearly twice as much as Democrats during the 2024 cycle. With the update coinciding with the ramp-up to midterms, texts about campaign events and voter registration risk being redirected into the new folder, potentially reducing engagement. In July, the National Republican Senate Committee reportedly warned in an internal note that the update could cost the party over $25 million in donations.
The change will also affect messages beyond politics, with texts from unsaved numbers about appointments or services likely to be filtered. Apple has previously offered a similar optional feature, but in iOS 26, renamed as “Screen Unknown Senders,” it will gain higher visibility. Messages from filtered numbers will still appear within the app under a new button showing unread counts.
The controversy echoes the 2022 Gmail dispute, when a study revealed Republican campaign emails were more likely to be marked as spam than those from Democrats. Party leaders later claimed the filtering cost them as much as $2 billion in donations between 2019 and 2022.
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