

I do think Trump’s weird immunity to consequences (if this was fiction, I’d call it plot armor) is a factor in this. Everybody in authority had to know it was pointless security theater from the beginning, but being seen as reducing protection from terrorism in any way politically dangerous.
I’m sure the obvious answer is tariffs, but the US phone market has been rough for anyone who isn’t Apple or Samsung due to the outsized role carriers play in phone selection in that market. Google has made some inroads by being Google, but HMD is not Google.