Trump’s Big Phone Problem

Despite being told repeatedly that using his personal iPhone is a security risk, Donald Trump continues to make calls on the device, mostly to friends.  The New York Times reports:

“When President Trump calls old friends on one of his iPhones to gossip, gripe or solicit their latest take on how he is doing, American intelligence reports indicate that Chinese spies are often listening — and putting to use invaluable insights into how to best work the president and affect administration policy, current and former American officials said.

“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.”

So, this is a red flag coming from inside the White House.  Imagine national security taking a back seat to convenience.  You don’t have to imagine because it’s actually happening.  Trump could use a secure government issued device but it doesn’t have his contacts.  From Jonathan Bernstein at Bloomberg Opinion:

“Sometimes, all it takes is one story to remind us that President Donald Trump, 21 months in, remains wildly unfit for office. 

The revelations in this story? I counted eight blockbusters:

• Trump insists on using his personal iPhone, even after he’s been told that Chinese and Russian intelligence are almost certainly listening in.
• He’s supposed to swap out his official phones every month to provide some security, but he usually doesn’t. 
• He continues using his unsecured phone, apparently, because it allows him to keep his list of contacts. In other words, he’s jeopardizing national security to avoid the minor inconvenience of dialing.
• He also uses the phone to evade having his calls logged by the White House, because he doesn’t want his staff to know who he’s speaking with.
• China is apparently using what it learns by eavesdropping to manipulate Trump’s friends so they can manipulate him.
• Officials think the Russians aren’t bothering to do the same “because of Mr. Trump’s apparent affinity for President Vladimir V. Putin.” 
• Those close to Trump evidently assume that he would blurt out classified information on his unsecured phone.
• Except for one thing: They think he pays so little attention to his briefings that he may not know enough classified information to leak anything important.”

If Democrats win the House in two weeks, investigations into this (and many, many other areas) will be forthcoming.  From The Washington Post 202 column:

“This is a big problem, if true,” added Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the vice chair of the Senate intelligence committee who made his fortune in cellphones. “The intelligence community works hard to defend us against foreign espionage. The last thing we need is for the President to be jeopardizing national security through sheer carelessness.”

Trump tweeted this morning that the Times story was “boring” and “incorrect.”  The newspaper replied that it stands by its reporting.