Trump might be the most accessible president ever — for spies or scammers
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Trump holds an iPhone during an event in the Oval Office in May. Photo: Samuel Corum/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images
President Trump reportedly picks up when his cell rings even if he doesn't know who's calling. Senior members of his team also love chatting on their personal devices.
- That makes the administration uniquely vulnerable to basic scams like spoofed calls and impersonation attempts.
Why it matters: If Trump is willing to answer unknown numbers, as The Atlantic reported this week, there's no guarantee a scammer, impersonator, or even a foreign intelligence operative couldn't have a chat with the president.
- There's no evidence that has actually happened. But recent reports involving Trump and other top officials have raised red flags about the security of their communications.
Driving the news: 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, per the Wall Street Journal.
- Meanwhile, Chinese hackers reportedly penetrated U.S. telecom networks as early as summer 2023, according to Bloomberg — a year earlier than previously known.
- That access has been used by China-backed group Salt Typhoon to spy on Trump, Vice President Vance, and other officials, the NYT reported.
- Then there are the series of Signal-related scandals involving former national security adviser Mike Waltz, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and others.
Between the lines: Eavesdropping on world leaders isn't new — but it's a lot easier if the leader in question is using a personal phone and eschewing standard cybersecurity practices.
Flashback: In 2017, Trump had two phones — one issued through the White House and only capable of making phone calls, and a less secure phone equipped just for social media.
- At the time, he was urged to swap out his Twitter phone at least once a month. Politico reported he'd instead go months without security checks.
- It's unclear how many of those security protocols were brought back in this time around. "I think people gave up on that years ago," one adviser told The Atlantic.
In a written statement, White House communications director Steven Cheung said the administration would "not discuss or disclose security measures regarding the President."
- "President Trump is the most transparent and accessible President in American history," Cheung said. "World leaders, heads of state, elected officials, and business titans all reach out to him because they know America is back under President Trump's leadership.
- "Whereas, Joe Biden was hidden and sheltered by his handlers because he was a total embarrassment and bumbling idiot during his time in office," Cheung added.
The big picture: Since returning to office, the Trump administration has:
- Ignored basic security norms, including heavy reliance on Signal and personal numbers.
- Gutted existing federal cybersecurity leadership, with one-third of CISA's staff already gone.
- Empowered security-weakening tech initiatives through Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has been pursuing projects like using a buggy AI tool to crawl sensitive government data.
Threat level: 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.
- Spoofing a legitimate phone number — like the one used in the Wiles impersonation — is easy and cheap, with plenty of free apps available on mobile app stores.
The bottom line: Security is taking a backseat to speed and convenience — and that tradeoff is opening the door to deception and manipulation at the highest levels of government.
Go deeper: America's biggest cyber threat is inside the government
