Trump might be the most accessible president ever — for spies or scammers

President Trump reportedly answers his cell phone even when he doesn't know who's calling, making him vulnerable to scams and impersonation attempts. Senior members of his team also use their personal devices, which makes the administration uniquely vulnerable to basic scams. There's no evidence that a scammer or foreign intelligence operative has had a chat with the president, but recent reports have raised red flags about the security of their communications. Federal authorities are investigating a scheme where someone spoofed the phone number of White House chief of staff Susie Wiles to impersonate her in calls to senators, governors, and CEOs. Chinese hackers reportedly penetrated U.S. telecom networks as early as summer 2023, and have used that access to spy on Trump, Vice President Vance, and other officials. Trump had two phones in 2017, one issued through the White House and a less secure phone equipped just for social media, and was advised to swap out his Twitter phone at least once a month, but it's unclear how many of those security protocols were brought back. The administration has ignored basic security norms, gutted existing federal cybersecurity leadership, and empowered security-weakening tech initiatives. AI tools can clone a voice using just a few seconds of audio, and the FBI warned last month that scammers are already using them to impersonate senior officials. The tradeoff between security and convenience is opening the door to deception and manipulation at the highest levels.