I know the sibling suggested a toothpick, but everything besides a needle has been too large and too week in my experience. There's nothing important at the bottom of the port so just jam it in there and scrape around until you can get a bunch of lint out. You will be surprised what you find.

I use a safety pin. The amount of lint I get out is unbelievable. And I have to scrape hard to get it all out, it's extremely compacted. Don't stop until you hear the sound of metal on plastic.

Whittle the toothpick a smidgen with a razor blade or similar.

Metal scraping flimsy metal contacts that are nigh-unrepairable is a hard lesson. Unfortunately it is also one that I seem to need to re-learn on a consistent basis.

I think going gently with a metal needle might be safer? The metal contacts are springy and need a certain amount of force to bend.

Plastic sharp object to pick. Maybe toothpick and loads of lighting.

the wooden ones require a knife to shave them down thinner.

I would just go by feel. Even when there's a lot of lint in there, it can be really hard to see it, so just probe around until nothing else comes out.

I have had luck with those disposable floss picks. They are entirely plastic and the pick stick end is suitably narrow to fit into the port. Plus they are incredibly cheap.

There are dozens of tools marketed specifically for this (search “phone port cleaner” on Amazon) but I’ve had the best luck with a pushpin.

I use a sewing needle.

I do like the suggestions of plastic or wood; that's probably a better idea as the material is softer. My spudger doesn't fit a USB port, sadly. IDK if a toothpick would, I'd never thought of that.

I try to be mindful of the actual connector's pads when I clean, so as to not scrape them.