‘Russian and Chinese intelligence services tap Trump’s phone calls’

Russian and Chinese intelligence agencies are said to be tapping private telephone conversations of US President Donald Trump. That’s what the New York Times claims. This is possible because Trump uses an unsecured smartphone for communication.

Trump with iPhone

The intelligence services want to find out by eavesdropping on the private conversations with whom Trump is speaking and what arguments he is open to in discussions, reports The New York Times. They hope in this way to influence the American president better than would be possible without the wiretapping. Other countries often try to influence heads of state to their own advantage. It is unknown how often tapping telephone conversations is part of this.

US presidents have access to a secure phone that handles calls in different ways than normal smartphones to prevent eavesdropping. The Chinese and Russian intelligence agencies would not have hacked Trump’s smartphone, an iPhone, but the tapping would have happened in the connection between Trump’s phone and the other party, somewhere in the cellular network. GSM networks that are still in use for many telephone calls have been regarded as unsafe for years.

The Chinese government has denied tapping Trump’s phone conversations, according to South China Morning Post. A spokesperson told the newspaper that the article from The New York Times is “fake news,” a reference to Trump’s frequent use of that term. The spokesperson also advises Trump to use a Huawei smartphone. The US government is blocking the sale of Huawei smartphones in the US because they fear that espionage is taking place via those smartphones.

Update, 17.00: Trump claims rarely use his cell phone and only with government authorization.