Dem lawmaker: Trump ‘trying to aid our adversaries at the expense of national security’

Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) blasted President Trump over a New York Times article detailing the national security risk associated with Trump’s use of personal iPhones.

McCollum tweeted Thursday with a link to the story, saying, “It appears the president is trying to aid our adversaries at the expense of national security.” 

Unbelievable! U.S. intelligence agencies know China & Russia are listening in on Pres. Trump’s calls b/c he demands on using an unsecured iPhone for convenience. It appears the president is trying to aid our adversaries at the expense of national security. https://t.co/wqVcpkJ2sp

— Rep. Betty McCollum (@BettyMcCollum04) October 25, 2018

The Times reported that Russia and China are eavesdropping on Trump’s personal phone calls in order to gain information that they can use to influence American politics.

{mosads}“Unbelievable!” McCollum tweeted after apparently reading the story. McCollum surmised that “he demands on using an unsecured iPhone for convenience.”

China has reportedly been keeping track of the people whom Trump speaks to the most, compiling them into a list of figures to target with pro-Chinese messaging. While Russia’s efforts are reportedly less coordinated, they are listening in to conversations in order to seek insight into Trump’s thinking.

According to the report, none of Trump’s three iPhones are completely secure. Two of them have been made more secure by the National Security Agency, but the third iPhone is no different than any other personal cellphone.

Trump strongly denied the report, calling the New York Times “Fake News” on Twitter. 

The New York Times has a new Fake Story that now the Russians and Chinese (glad they finally added China) are listening to all of my calls on cellphones. Except that I rarely use a cellphone, & when I do it’s government authorized. I like Hard Lines. Just more made up Fake News!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 25, 2018

The so-called experts on Trump over at the New York Times wrote a long and boring article on my cellphone usage that is so incorrect I do not have time here to correct it. I only use Government Phones, and have only one seldom used government cell phone. Story is soooo wrong!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 25, 2018

Former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman on Thursday disputed the president’s claim that he only uses government phones, saying his “memory is fading fast.”

A Russian official said the Kremlin is “amused” by the report claiming the country is listening in on Trump’s personal phone calls, telling reporters the Kremlin regretted that the Times “thoughtlessly publishes information, which demonstrates the decreasing level of journalistic responsibility.”

China pushed back on the report, with Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying saying “the New York Times should know that such report just provides another piece of evidence that the NYT is making fake news.”

Hua jokingly suggested Trump could switch to a phone from the Chinese tech company Huawei, which has been identified as a security threat since 2012.