The president appears to be referring to an executive order that he had reportedly been expected to sign that would block Chinese telecom companies like Huawei from U.S. 5G networks, citing national security concerns.{mosads}
A White House spokeswoman did not immediately respond when asked if Trump was backing off the rumored executive order. The tweets came as U.S. and Chinese officials were beginning another round of trade talks in Washington.
Full 5G deployment is still years away, though wireless companies are already making big promises about what the technology will deliver. The new wireless networks, the industry says, will pave the way for advanced technologies like virtual reality and driverless cars while giving users increased mobile download speeds.
U.S. officials have warned that companies like Huawei could be compromised by Chinese intelligence and that allowing their hardware to be integrated into the nation’s communications infrastructure may give Beijing the ability to eavesdrop on U.S. citizens.
Trump’s tweets come after European allies had appeared to reject U.S. pressure to ban Huawei from their own 5G deployments.
British and German officials have suggested in recent days that their countries would not implement outright bans. Ciaran Martin, the CEO of the United Kingdom’s National Cyber Security Centre, said in a speech at a technology conference in Brussels this week that his country could manage whatever risk that Huawei posed.
“Our job is to make sure that the government can be confident that behind whatever decision it takes, there will be a technical framework that works and a competent national authority that knows what it is doing,” Martin said.
Updated at 10:20 a.m.