Trump's phone calls are being bugged by Russia and China, US intelligence claims

  25 October 2018    Read: 1881
Trump

President Donald Trump's iPhone calls to old friends and business associates are being monitored by Chinese and Russian spies for information on policy and how the President thinks, American intelligence officials believe.

The President has been loath to part with his iPhone, which he uses to tweet out his responses to the latest news. He also has an separate iPhone that can make private calls, despite US spies urging him to stop using it.

The New York Times reported that American agents believe China is listening in to the President's private calls. While they may not have access physically to his phone, Chinese spies could intercept unsecured calls over mobile phone networks or tap the phones of people the President calls.

Mr Trump has three iPhones, two official phones that have been secured by the US National Security Agency and a further personal phone that he uses to store his contacts.

China has been listening in on Mr Trump's calls in an effort to predict his policy moves to avoid escalating a trade war, intelligence officials told the US newspaper.

Mr Trump reportedly regularly contacts business associates from his property and during finance days to ask for their advice and input. While the President has a secure White House phone, he often uses his personal phone to talk to his contacts.

China has taken a particular interest in Mr Trump's friendships with property magnate Steve Wynn, who owns a resort in Macau, and Stephen Schwarzman, the head of Blackstone Group, The New York Times said. Both men have business contacts in China who could be used to influence their thinking. 

Security experts said it would be feasible for China to tap into the President's calls. While iPhones can communicate with secure and encrypted messages, normal calls over phone networks are more vulnerable to network tapping. 

Matt Taite, a former GCHQ intelligence officer, said on Twitter: "They could... take the unencrypted audio from inside the [telecoms] network itself if they've compromised (or built) the network."

Russia is also believed to be trying to monitor the President's unsecured calls, although it is allegedly not running a similar influence operation to China.

Mr Trump is supposed to swap his Presidential iPhones every 30 days, but often fails to do so.

During his Presidential campaign run, he regularly attacked his Democrat rival Hillary Clinton for her use of an unsecured personal email while she was Secretary of State – often to chants of "lock her up" from supporters.

China rejected the report that it had been monitoring the President. A spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry said: "If they are really very worried about Apple phones being bugged, then they can change to using Huawei."

Chinese smartphone maker Huawei has been subject to security restrictions in the US over concerns about its ties to the Chinese government.


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