A New York Times report claims President Donald Trump’s use of an iPhone instead of more secure hardware is leaving his conversations open to monitoring by Chinese and Russian spies.
Mr. Trump’s aides have repeatedly warned him that his cellphone calls are not secure, and they have told him that Russian spies are routinely eavesdropping on the calls, as well. But aides say the voluble president, who has been pressured into using his secure White House landline more often these days, has still refused to give up his iPhones. White House officials say they can only hope he refrains from discussing classified information when he is on them.
Mr. Trump’s use of his iPhones was detailed by several current and former officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity so they could discuss classified intelligence and sensitive security arrangements. The officials said they were doing so not to undermine Mr. Trump, but out of frustration with what they considered the president’s casual approach to electronic security.
While the iPhone is widely considered as more secure than devices running the Android operating system, the handset’s operating system, iOS, is not designed to block military-grade intrusion techniques.
U.S. spy agencies have determined that both China and Russia are monitoring his conversations. Both countries could use the information to sway administration policy. China in particular is said to be looking for ways to use what it learns from the calls in the ongoing trade war with the U.S.
China has compiled a list of close Trump associates, which includes retired gambling mogul Steve Wynn and Blackstone Group CEO Stephen A. Schwarzman, feeding them information via a network of Chinese businessmen and associates, hoping they’ll whisper pro-China comments into the president’s ear.
President Trump is said to use three different iPhones, two of which have been modified by the National Security Agency to disable certain device features. The third model is reportedly identical to the models used by average consumers, and is able to run any third-party app.
The Times report says the reason the president keeps the stock model iPhone is that it can store his contacts. He uses his iPhones “when he does not want a call going through the White House switchboard and logged for senior aides to see.”
Although standard operating procedure is for the president to swap out the devices every 30 days, he does so “rarely” due to the inconvenience of the process.
