I'm sure it has been said, but it bears repeating. Perhaps our greatest national intelligence threat is the president.
But, are we supposed to feel thankful or more secure that he doesn't care enough about national security to actually bother to read and understand the daily intelligence briefs?
I don't.
10
The point is that every autocratic national government of a country in which Trump has done business would have been tapping his phone calls for years if not decades. Russian businessmen are essentially agents of Vladimir Putin, same with the Chinese, same with the Saudis, same in lots of countries. They eavesdrop more for profit than politics.
This is what has been known and effectively ignored by the American MSN media since Trump was elected. He is completely compromised in a series of different elements of his life. His lifelong criminality in this tax avoidance and fraud has always been there to be exploited by all the people who were involved, laundering the money, like the Russian mafia for a start.
He is a deeply, deeply stupid man whose mental instability has been obvious for decades. Don't worry about how mind-bendingly weird it is to call newspapers to pretend you are a different person and gossip about your own sex life, worry about how stupid and reckless of your own reputation you would have to be to think you were going to fool anyone.
The news media, Maggie Haberman in particular, have been egregiously derelict in failing to draw urgent attention to Trump's various and fundamentally disqualifying characteristics. Instead of using her history with Trump to blare urgent warnings, Haberman has used it as a tool of professional advantage, playing footsies with Trump for a little bit more access.
Trump is a threat to the nation and the media just enables him.
17
How is this not a bltant violation of his Oath of Office?
18
Maybe @NYTimes could explain why so very many articles, and front page articles at that, were devoted to email servers and yet this story, with actual ramifications and dangers both clear and present will receive a tiny sliver of momentary attention?
24
But her emails!
17
"Who cares? We won!"
7
So if I give NYT a $1 do I get "truth" instead of anonymous speculation being passed off as news? I'm sick of "anonymous" people said blah, blah, blah... Media pretty much fabricates whatever narrative they like and cite it as coming from an anonymous source and proceed to blabber about fake news in other articles.
3
Lock him up.
19
What a ridiculous piece of jurinalism.
First of all, Trump is the most accessible person in the world. He has no privileged communications. When he's not twittering, which isn't often, he's holding forth at rallies, or impromptu press conferences, or photo ops. The guy never shuts up, and he never sleeps.
Second of all, The Times seems to have forgotten that Trump never tells the truth. What self-respecting evesdropping spies would take anything Trump says at face value?
"Comrade Putin, Trump says he is going to bomb Murmansk with Thanksgiving turkeys"
"OMG" says the heinous Vlad, "What in the world is the crazy capitalist up to now? Well, we know Murmansk is safe, but we won't be getting free turkeys for Thanksgiving. Dratskii!"
"Man" says our arch enemy "It was much easier listening to Hillary's phone and reading her e-mails. At least she told the truth half the time. I wish we had spies in the White House like The Times and Bezo have. Those American officials always get the real facts."
"Maybe we need to call in all those bank loans we gave Trump. That will make him squeal like the capitalist pig he is. Or, we could steal his tax returns from The Times."
"Better give Xi a call on his secure Google line and find out what's going on."
3
Lock him up!
7
Trump sells newspapers. please stop enabling this addict.
6
But, but.....Hillary.
3
But her emails!
2
wait a second officials are allowed to leak classified information as long as they aren't named in the article?
anyone leaking or receiving classified information should be arrested
In the early 1990s I used to get tired of humorist Dave Barry and his constant repetition of a certain phrase. But darn if he wasn't prescient: "You cannot make this stuff up."
2
Aside from my thoughts on POTUS on a multitude of other issues the author of this story has no in-depth knowledge of the how LTE, GSM, W/CDMA transmission works over cellular towers and MTSOs. Aside from a direct attack on the specific iPhone within WiFi or Bluetooth/ANT+ range it would be vastly improbable bordering impossible to pull a singular phone call or conversation out of the millions occurring each second.
Let alone the fact that the code division-multiplexing adds layers upon layers of encryption beginning with the physical layer air interface, second layer and then CORE. During each layer interface additional divisions of the signal (code) are added along with authentications.
Just because someone is hacking an iPhone over an unsecured wifi network in your Brooklyn apartment or hotel does not equate that the same will happen over the Verizon, ATT, TMO, or Sprint networks.
2
Hear's hoping Russia and China share the love. "WikiLeaks, I love WikiLeaks."
4
Remember the Benghazi email investigation ? All the uproar about National Security....?
8
This from the man who during the campaign constantly berated Secretary Clinton for her "illegal" unsecured servers, which by the the way were never hacked. It was the DNC servers that were hacked.
The hypocrisy of this man knows no bounds.
He claims that he rarely uses cell phone because he prefers landlines. I didn't know that you could text from a land line!
A hypocrite AND a liar. What a bargain we got with this guy.
8
What a relief!!! He doesn't have his emails on a private server!!! So, we don't have to LOCK HIM UP!!!
7
It’s always jolly when Matt & Maggie are exposing the whole deal, whatever it may be!
1
Where are the calls to "lock him up"? Where is the investigation into his leaking classified information? Can anyone spell "Hypocrite".
3
Is it treason if he knows they are listening and he says something confidential (besides pizza preferences and best local hair stylists)?
2
And, most importantly, he continues to get away with it.....can someone please stand up and save the country?
2
"I'm rich, and you can't tell me what to do!"
2
Did it ever occurred to the intelligence agencies that the president actually want the Russians and the Chinese listen to his conversations? If you know Russians and Chinese are listening, then Trump can take advantage of that for personal financial benefit without any trace. The Russians and the Chinese get it what he wants.
1
Since Trump's opposition (including this newspaper) believe he is a puppet of Putin and a stooge to the Chinese, what could they possibly glean from Trump's telephone calls? Trump has been made out to be a caricature of a Chauncey Gardener-like character, so how much damage can a know-nothing do? Besides, according to the Times, the nation is in good hands, being run instead by Deep State loyalists keeping Trump's hand off the nuclear trigger.
1
If only the Chinese would leak some of the calls to Hannity that would embarrass both Trump and Fox News.
China if you are listening....
5
Gee, it doesn't sound much worse than having an unsecured private email server.
2
Why must we 'only hope' that trump refrains from discussing classified information? trump has gotten too many passes to be president of the U.S. First, everything was excused 'because he has no political experience'. Now he gets to do whatever he wants and how he wants. NO!!! His first duty as president is to keep the country safe. This cannot happen with a person with no self-control and who refuses to follow even basic security rules. trump is now and has always been unfit to hold the office of president. Vote for a democracy in November.
3
If the Chinese and Russians are listening to Trump's calls, it's a safe bet the NSA and others are listening as well.
It's hard to imagine Trump having enough self-control to intentionally plant false information in these calls as part of a plan to mislead China and Russia. If anything, it's more likely Trump is being fed misinformation with the expectation he'll blab.
1
Maybe we nee to start screeching "Lock Him Up". How is this any different that a private E-Mail Server. I hope he doesn't carry this potentially compromised phone into sensitive meetings.
1
If the Chinese and Russians really are listening to Trump's calls, they're probably more freaked out than we are about the weirdness of what's going on here.
3
Besides extremely irresponsible behavior from the Present and not using secure lines for communication, this also means that Russians / Chinese have capabilities to tap and eavesdrop a US carrier's mobile network! That too needs attention !!
1
Do we think Trump never talks about what he might be planning or thinking about various issues, during these calls? He is the POTUS; THAT IS CLASSIFIED INFORMATION. Even revealing that he obviously hasn't "gotten" certain classified information could be important to our enemies and competitors. Especially with a head of state that likes to deal one on one with others, with no help in the room!
Sheesh!
3
"White House officials say they can only hope he refrains from discussing classified information when he is on them."
Whew! Thank goodness for hope as the report had me worried for a moment.
4
I can't take more than 3 oz.. of liquid on board a plane for security reasons but trump can refuse to give up his non secure phone???
5
Are they listening to his calls?
Trump's Twitter and iPhone use has always been an egregious, reckless national security risk. Of course, Trump has also been, all along, an unacceptable national security risk. He has compromised our agents in meetings with the Russians. His background makes him a likely blackmail target. It is likely that he conspired with the Russians to steal the election, which is treason in the everyday meaning of that word. If a Democratic president had done any of this, the Republicans would have impeached her/him.
4
Donald:
Wa, Wa!
The Chinese and Russians are tapping into my phone!
Donald's mother:
Now Donald, you know this isn't happening. You're making it all up. Go to your room until you can behave with your friends!
1
It’s not vote IF your life depends on it.
Vote because your life depends on it.
15
President Clinton talked on his phone during the Lewinsky affair, and allegedly the Israelis was intercepting his calls. (This is in the Clinton deposition). It is possible they were running a blackmail operation to spring Jonathan Pollard from prison, and it would have worked if Linda Tripp had not gone to the FBI.
2
Once again the Republicans in Congress sit like complicit puppets and do nothing to protect our national security. Shameful. The United States deserves so much better.
13
I'll bet Trump would/will say there's a method to his madness...
...But let's face it - it's just pure madness, plain and simple.
7
Well, if Russia and China can listen in, so can we. Listen in and if he discusses anything of a classified nature, impeach him as a traitor, or at least incompetent.
11
I got it- first we listen in & if we hear/see/smell/taste any tidbits, we get right on the horn and pass them on. Beautiful!!
1
Remember when he bragged he shoot someone in broad daylight and get away with it?
This is his way of proving that: act with complete impunity and wipe his muddy shoes all over us.
The only recourse is for voters to turn the republicans out of congress in 2018 and him out in 2020.
11
Steve Wynn did not "used to own a lucrative property in Macau." Steve Wynn was the CEO and Chair of Wynn Resorts until he stepped down in February. Wynn Resorts owns the property in Macau.
HE is ok with Russian and Chinese, as he is in bed with him. He needs a setup in Russian consulate to hide his real intentions from American agencies.
So, what does this make him?
For any Americans: A traitor
For GOP : A hero, who hates liberals.
6
Trump is the biggest geopolitical threat to our country.
11
Incompetent NSA ! It is quite possible to build a special encryption app to allow the iPhone to connect a special military grade box via WiFi. Then the special box connects to secured landline to the outside world.
1
" (the Google operating system is considered more vulnerable than Apple’s)"
How curious. The article would suggest that was close to nonsense.
My fave detail here is the bit about how his aides sort of shrug this off, on the grounds that Trump’s too ignorant to be able to do all that much damage over the phone.
I just adore the idea that thank god for Trump’s complete lack of interest in daily briefings and general info.
9
I dont think the President is as careless as the media believes him to be.He is outspoken and lacks stable thinking but he is a businessman who knows how to keep secrets better than a politician.
6
Surprat:
Good businessmen may know how to keep secrets. Trump was far from that.
12
@Surprat - "a businessman who knows how to keep secrets"
Maybe it is April 1st in India?
Otherwise this is so utterly demonstrably wrong on both counts as to be the funniest thing I've read all morning.
13
Trump has divulged classified information more than once.
He just doesn’t get it.
Why all the upset over Clinton’s use of a private server? And DJT? What a double standard!
8
You all accept this behaviour from corporations, whose spy agencies are the social media, and whose influence campaigns are directed at you. Why the sudden fuss? Why the false umbrage?
7
Let's get back to the topic of Trump's gross misbehavior. The article is not about government or corporate spying per se.
6
The hypocrisy of this paper is breathtaking
2
Is it ever!!! Thanks!
1
I thought that the Chinese were smarter than that. Why would they want to listen to the lies, ramblings and nonsense from trump.
2
Trump really doesn't care, do you?
2
No wonder the Russians helped get Trump elected. They knew, if they did, they'd have a moron in the white house, for at least four years, possible eight. No better way to catch up and eventually overtake America in all things great and small. Of course, no longer being a super power could mean we no longer meddle, or make mischief, in the affairs of other nations, which would be a very great thing.
8
Trump’s attitudes about security affect everyone because his notable lack of discipline and discretion threaten the Nation’s safety.
1
Does this surprise anyone? Trump gave international secret intel to Russians while in the Oval Office the day after he fired Comey.
And Jared talks to Mohammed bin Salman using WhatsApp.
Who knows what intel Trump gave Putin in their private 1-to-1 meeting. And you know Putin, being ex-KGB, knows how to manipulate people.
The bottom line; Trump is too flippant to care and too dim witted to understand the amount of risk he is placing all US citizens.
5
I doubt they can make any more sense of him than the rest of us can.
4
If he doesn't use cell phones as he claims then how does he tweet? Can't from a landline and I have never seen him by a computer or a tablet.
4
Can we all not just listen in?
2
The Republicans' reckless hypocrisy couldn't be plainer. They attacked Clinton for security breaches and compromised the integrity of their own Congressional investigations with their kangaroo courts. Now Trump treats basic measures for national security as a minor annoyance, and his oath of office to defend it as worthless. This alone would be grounds for impeachment by the GOP were a Democrats in office. Instead they comply with Trump's dangerous behavior.
6
And once again our POTUS has set himself up for more Kompromat. I'm just not sure what the Chinese word is for extortion.
2
Lock him up!
2
And what about Kushner using WhatsApp for correspondence with MBS?
4
Obviously, Mr. Trump is aware of the risks associated with unsecured telephone lines. However, it is difficult to second guess him on this one. The use of an open-line, which is known to be surveiled by an adversary, is the quickest and easiest way for him to inject information directly into their ear.
1
It can’t be true. Trump has blocked their numbers....
2
What a rube. Lock him up, lock him up.
2
If it is not that difficult to tap into these conversations, the press should do so. He has been warned, so whatever the press hears is fair game. And I for one would love to know what Trump really says.
1
Bottom line: We need a real President, not a reality show flunky that wants ratings.
4
This security breech is a reason for firing him from his job.
2
I hope they are able to tap into all his conversations with his evangelical preachers and pastors too.
1
Yeah, but again, what about her emails?
2
China, Russia, if you've recorded the calls between Donald and Sean Hannity please release them to the public. If you can make any sense of what they say that would be great too.
5
My greatest hope lies in the fact that I believe that this will end badly for our Idiot-in-Chief. It has been documented that his brand is in tatters; name removed from hotels, golf courses empty, people won't even step inside his properties for a cocktail. His business acumen has been exposed as an illegal joke. Trump won a $400 million dollar lottery, courtesy of his father, and like many in his base would, managed to squander it. Can you imagine what a Trump library will look like? A president who can't even read a morning briefing. He will be discredited, shunned, and the butt of endless jokes for the rest of his life. Enraged people repeatedly demolish his star on Hollywood Boulevard, imaging what indignities will be visited upon his grave. And remember it was Obama's relentless ribbing of easy target Trump that goaded The Donald into running in the first place. Sweet revenge
3
If only the NYT cared so much about Hillary's private email server.
3
@James
Which was not illegal and not much of anything in hindsight.
4
@James - uhhhh... that’s a joke, right? Or didn’t you not read the NYT ever during 2016?
3
But emails!!!
7
Lock him up! Lock him up!
7
Can't the grownups in the room take the baby's phone away? Why let this man child get away with everything?
8
Something about the constitution thingie, I suppose ! That’s why they want to ditch it, isn’t it?
1
I thought according to NYT, Trump answers directly to Russia and China to provide them whatever information they want. Therefore, why would they spy on him?
14
So, China, if you're listening, maybe you can find those incriminating phone calls.
[I'll bet you have...]
14
This alone is cause for impeachment.
26
The only thing anyone eavesdropping on Trump is going to learn is that he's a lazy, incurious, ill-informed, vain, self-absorbed, hyper-narcissistic, oh, wait...
Nevermind.
And Rusher, if you are listening, I hope you find his missing competence.
16
@Three Bars whats dripping in your town is intelligence. Know what I mean?
Remember when Republicans were up in arms about Hillary Clinton using an unsecure email server ... Yeah, that was then, this is now ...
35
Of course Russians are listening in on Trump's calls, he is counting on it. He can't talk to them directly, but he can give them info and coded massages over his phone.
8
What is the difference between this and Hillary's personal emails that didn't follow protocol? Isn't the requirement that the president use a secure phone part of the same protocol?
15
Where is Trey Gowdy and his investigators? This GOP congress has aided and abetted Trump since day one. Party over country. Shameful!
28
Does anyone recall the New York Times critical articles on Senator Hillary Clinton's server?
Mr. Trump launders money for the Russian mob, and his campaign's inner circle dances with Russian GRU Intelligence hackers, while the President invites Russian Intelligence Officers into the Oval office or gives enemy governments his private phone numbers.
And yet, Congressional Republican leaders fail to protect our Nation.
38
Release the tapes
15
I’m hoping he is using false info to confusion them and troll them This is almost as bad as the entire email operation of Hillary Clinton exposed so openly all those years.
1
Almost as bad? The difference being.....?
This story gives whole new meaning to, "Russia, if you're listening...".
This is probably Trump's backdoor to communicating with Valdy and Xi. Some prearranged words and topics created in those secret one-on-one meetings to signal his new best friends what form his next pre-planned eruption will take.
Give them a heads up on the QT so he don't have to take flack like he did when he called the Russians ahead of his first big cruise missile strike against Syria so the Ruskies could get all their guys out of the target zone.
4
I would like to think that our intel agencies are smart enough to regularly feed the White House uniquely false info just to see what winds up in Russian hands.
17
This is the same guy who conducted diplomatic meetings with world leaders on a Mar-a-lago patio, as his club members ogled and videotaped.
20
If Trump is indeed discussing classified information on his unsecured cell phone is that any less criminal than Hilary's using an unsecured server for her emails? If she needs to be "locked up" and investigated, what about Trump?
2
Does he actually know any classified information?
7
@K Kelly Does he actually even know any UNclassified information? Or anything at all?
1
Nothing that a hammer could not solve.
7
Well, I for one believe him. The denial was written on Twitter and use the long "soooo." Has to be true.
/sarcasm
Oh, right, and the denial also contained an admission of use of a non-government cell phone. Soooooooo... It's true then.
More O's, more truth. That, and logic.
6
This story so strange. The President is blatantly a major threat to his country ‘s national security, and there is nothing anyone will or can do about it. The end.
8
Where is the condemnation from the same Republicans who thought Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server was a sin worthy of multiple investigations and possibly even incarceration?
21
Lock him up. In case that's not clear, lock Trump up.
19
The most outrageous thing in this article is that security officials are not particularly worried about inadvertent leaks of classified information because Trump does not bother himself with learning much of its details. I feel so relieved.
13
And to think the Republican's and the Fox propaganda machine made a big deal over Obama's choice of a tan business suit. Where is the Republican outrage over this?
15
I worked in the telecoms industry and specifically for a company that is used by many mobile phone Operators around the world to monitor their networks. I can tell you with 100% certainty that every single call Trump makes on that non-secure iPhone is recorded by an Operator somewhere. You don't even have to have embedded spyware to get to it, you just need access to the tools and the data... such as many thousands of technical employees actually do have in Network Operations around the world.
What Trump is doing with this is worse than Clinton's use of a private email server (which was already bad) to conduct business. And remember she was Secretary of State at the time... it's not as big a deal as the President's comms. Trump is truly a hypocritical fool, giving away the Country's secrets for nothing.
27
If so, why hasn't one of Trump's political enemies made any of the calls public? I don't doubt you. I just don't get why there aren't an endless stream of embarrassing or disqualifying recordings and documents about Trump every day.
1
@Brannon Perkison condition of anonymity
A patriotic hacker could hack into the president's phone conversation and make public a relatively non-sensitive call, to demonstrate how easily it can be done. Trump responds to public comments.
Unfortunately, I would fear for the safety of the person who did this, because Trump would direct Sessions to "lock him/her up." How much better if a government agency or a Republican senator could do this. Much less danger of being locked up. But they are distinctly lacking in courage, and so the charade continues.
9
I know this should concern me, but it actually makes me laugh. I can imagine foreign intelligence agents saying to one another: "Not only does this guy make no sense, but he contradicts himself every 30 seconds! What information is even real here?" Don't sweat it folks; our intel agencies share exactly zero useful classified info with this buffoon. Oh, and "Lock him up."
11
If he actually knows any state secrets, he has probably spilled them to his golf buddies. He seems to think he can say or do anything he pleases without repercussions. Didn't he ever hear "Loose lips sink ships."? He will do more damage to our country in the next two years. There are several ways to remove him, but Congress seems afraid to try. NSA could do it.
7
It's pitiful that officials in the WH have to go to the media in order for the POTUS to listen to warnings about security.
The problem is that Trump doesn't care about national security. He is more concerned about being a big shot. He is unfit.
5
Dereliction of duty. Aiding and abetting the enemy. What will it take for the "responsible adults" to get rid of this very real threat to our country?
3
Note to Ms. Haberman: When "None" is the subject of a sentence the required verb must be singular, not plural.
2
One more impeachment count for endangering national security. I can't wait to hear the equivocation.
5
They probably think it's an SNL skit if they're actually wasting their time doing that.
2
Clinton emails weren't compromised. He's virtually throwing information at our adversaries. Even if all he does is whine about how he looks, or makes another bad deal, they know what a doofus he is and can play it. Lock him up! Lock him up!
16
The implication that all cellular communications are vulnerable to interception is misleading. While the signals sent from the phone are, technologies like VoIP and VPNs allow the communications to stay encrypted until they reach a trusted, secure server with a physical connection to telephony networks. While this is something you'd need to set up, it's not difficult to do if you're technically minded.
1
So now at Democratic venues we should all chant "Lock him up!!" for discussing possible classified information on an unsecured communications device?
8
Has anyone considered that maybe Trumps use of these phones was directed by his Russian handlers ?
9
Everyone can rest at ease. Trump just tweeted that he rarely uses a "cellphone", mostly "Hard Lines". LOL!
It's good to know that the Secret Service has installed a desktop in the Beast so Donald can tweet on the road.
"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!"
3
This issue alone should be sufficient to remove this moron from office. He is compromising US security.
12
Statements like this one:
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.
sound like nonsense. So this article relies on people illicitly discussing classified intelligence so they can talk about the president discussing classified intelligence.
and this passage:
Russia is not believed to be running as sophisticated an influence effort as China because of Mr. Trump’s apparent affinity for President Vladimir V. Putin, a former official said.
What "former official" ? Where?
I really expect better journalism in the New York Times than this.
1
Nice try on tripping lightly past the fact that perfectly reliable reporting gets done all the time using sources that are anonymous to the public, but known to the reporter and her editor. It’s specially hilarious, given a certain President’s propensity for “sources,” of the “people are saying,” variety that clearly come straight out of his own fat head.
As for the bit about security, I seem to recall that said president leeched off illegally-obtained Wikileaks pretty good, and blatted highly-classified info straight at the Russian ambassador. In the Oval Office.
Not to mention that the concern is he’ll do it more, which makes sense, given his total inability to stop flapping his gums.
11
So we are safe because Trump is stupid and bored with the duties of the Presidency.
15
This is just one more shocking reason why Donald Trump is a danger to our country and unfit to continue to be in the highest position of leadership and power in the United States of America.
12
Let 'em listen. If they can figure him out, it might do us all some good.
14
It occurs that we understand this guy all too well already.
2
If Republican voters can not see the hypocrisy of Republicans making an election issue out of Hillary's insecure private email server and then not doing anything about Trump giving away top secret info to the Russians in the oval office and then this use of insecure phones, then they certainly can't see their own hypocrisy for voting R in the mid terms. Fortunately, there are a lot fewer of them then there are of us. Friends don't let friends sit out the mid terms. Get out the vote!
26
The President has nothing to hide is why! He is a tough talking negotiator who “ tells it like it is” and his enemies know he is all business , and open to all to see and hear! Only those hiding their nasty secrets need to use Top Secret scrambler devices...like Hillary was in need of in her exposed Emails!
2
What I want from this is for Republicans to admit that their outrage over Hillary’s server was a sham. They hated her for other reasons, but pretended it’s all about the server, because the other reasons were bad. But Trump’s no better than her on communication security, and that was clear from the start. So, if you’re honest, admit the server was a pretext, and say your true reasons for Hillary-hatred.
21
When it comes to security, hope is not a strategy.
10
Trump wants Hillary thrown in jail for using an insecure email server, but it's ok for him to use an off the shelf smart phone. Congress needs to pass laws that protect United States against the actions of its President.
22
Now how is this different from Hillary's private email server? The Trumpies were yelling "lock her up" over that, saying it was a security leak. Well, sounds just like what Trump is doing to me.
13
I know China and Russia aren't always on the cutting edge of human rights, but just what kind of amoral authoritarian governments would subject their OWN agents to the horrors of Trump's personal phone conversations?
I get that every country wants an edge, but some things are just a matter of human dignity. It was bad enough when Russia forced Maria Butina to consort with the NRA and gun lobby. Now regimes are exposing their people to Trump's calls? It won't be long before one of those poor foreign agents is compelled to gather information at actual Trump rallies; to endure raw, unfiltered exposure to the man himself like A Clockwork Orange! And when they break, they'll just swap in another sacrificial lamb.
And the so-called "international community" says nothing... Maybe we just don't care because these people are Russian or Chinese? Listen, even if you don't care about the human rights of others, it might be YOU or ME with the headphones strapped to our ears one day, listening to Trump's "locker room" in perpetuity. What if WE might be coerced into attending Trump's rallies week after week, month after month. Don't think it can't happen. This issue is bigger than petty international disputes and Russia/China should be ASHAMED of themselves.
5
So this is the behavior of the man who was hacked off about his opponents email server? Who should lock up whom?
16
What a petulant, arrogant little monster. The lazy stubborn, stuck in his ways mentality of this man is beyond disturbing. Risking national security on the grounds of not wanting to give up his beloved toy (iphone) is the definition of selfishness. This man needs to be removed from office through impeachment or the results of the Muller investigation or the use of the 25th amendment before harm comes to this country as a result of his incompitance.
22
Every day it becomes more astonishing that anyone is stupid enough to support this guy (or the Republicans), much less millions of people.
You have to be an idiot to support this.
23
I bet Trump uses his personal phone because he does not want the US government to know who he is calling or what he is saying. He could care less if the Russians and Chinese know-- he doesn't want US to know! He believes himself to be unaccountable to the people of this country-- he will do as he pleases and responsibility and accountability be damned. Hopefully US intelligence is listening in as well as the Chinese and Russians? Or would that be too much to hope for?
23
@Michele, you are absolutely right that he is keeping secrets from his administration and the U.S. government.
3
Jared and Ivanka are the ones who read the briefings. Are they on secure phones?
18
Trump is even more unfit to be President than known previously. His willful disregard of security is a betrayal of his America First mantra. It is just another deliberate lie to defraud acolytes of their votes.
10
Wasn't this what the whole HRC email server tragedy was all about?! Using personal unsecured communications while potentially conducting government business. Sounds like he needs to be LOCKED UP!
When people say in defense of Trump that you need to "respect the office" I've got to laugh. This guy treats the office and his position with such contempt and disregard I can only retort "I'll respect the office when he starts doing the same". Acting in a disrespectful manner is this guy's defining characteristic.
16
Yea OK.... but Hillary's server was never hacked... IQ45 is being tapped all the time??????? Is anyone going to step in and stop this madness? Even if this hits Fox they will say "Hillary did it why can't he?"
20
We have a reality TV star masquerading as President and 40 percent of our population cannot tell the difference. The only useful aspect of Trump keeping an open line personal phone is that our intelligence services can feed the President misinformation with the assumption that it will be taken as valid by the Chinese and Russians listening to his calls. Otherwise yet another proof that the US is in decline when it elects such a President.
21
This article will have the same shelf life as the hit piece on Trump's taxes, a day or less.
5
And, like the allegations of Trump's tax fraud, the allegations in this news piece will make it into the Articles of Impeachment against Trump. He's been cheating the United States for years.
3
The word, “unfit”, comes to mind.
15
Gotta love the former CIA guy attributed - "John Sipher" . At least they had fun with it.
3
Pity the poor spies monitoring the mad ramblings of Trump.
13
Lock him up!
But seriously, how odd it is that I can take some small comfort in knowing that the POTUS has such a poor grasp of military operations and classified material that he won't be the cause of a leak to a foreign power.
10
He IS just like a toddler ! ...
...so maybe they should distract him with cotton candy or ice cream...?
...truly disturbing.
7
The words Trump and refrain can not be used in the same sentence and make any sense.
4
But he is keeping us safe by building a wall at the border. Immigrants seeking asylum are more dangerous than China and Russia spying? Who'da thunk it? Thats what I call Making America Great Again....
11
It wasn't too long ago that Donald Trump was bellowing "Lock her up!" because of Hillary Clinton's serious gaffe of running an insecure e-mail server while Secretary of State. Now we have President Trump being played by the Chinese who monitor his insecure phone calls on his insecure iPhone, then contact and influence those with whom Trump converses, those from whom Trump often seeks advice or validation for his actions. Is this not a worse breach of national security? Is this not another significant violation of trust by the office of the presidency, as Trump attempts of have "private" phone calls about official business? Rather than calls to lock him up, Trump's insecure iPhone needs to be seized and locked up for the duration of the Trump presidency. Because Trump is addicted to Twitter, issue him a secure Tweet-only phone. Many American citizens are eternally grateful to our government spooks for leaking this latest Trump indiscretion.
16
The very thing Donald Trump believes he is protecting, national security, turns out to be the very thing he blatantly compromises every time he is on an unsecured cellphone. He is utterly unfit to serve as President of the United State of America. Remember that during the mid-term elections, everyone! Donald Trump needs to be held accountable for compromising our national security!
18
If Trump's calls are being listened to by the Chinese/Russians, it's because the US intelligence agencies are allowing them to. You can't tell me they don't have technology in place to prevent this from happening.
The good news is that no matter what they hear, it won't be true . . . at least not next week.
7
Perhaps this is intentional? Perhaps this is the easiest way for Trump to communicate with those to whom he is actually loyal.
5
Q: Why doesn't Vlad tap Trump's iPhone?
A: Because Donald always gets his status report in on time.
Q: Why does China's Foreign Affairs Ministry want Trump to use a Huawei phone?
A: So they can get conversation transcripts directly from the Huawai phone rather than transcribing the recorded iPhone conversation themselves.
10
The NYT has a sense of humor. This article is also available in Japanese and (especially) Chinese!
3
Donald uses his own special method to keep those Russians and Chinese who are listening in from learning his secrets.
He speaks English.
2
If you mean incoherent English ..then I get the joke.
8
I spent a few days in Ljubljana the capital of Slovenia whose population of 250,000 includes 50,000 students most of whom speak better English than Trump.
9
This is what happens when you put an infantile man in charge of leading the executive branch. He plays, loves the perks and demands his toys, damn the consequences.
He doesn't care that he may be overheard by others. Manipulation is his way of life so why should he worry that others may be trying to manipulate him? To him, they're speaking his language and he turns such circumstances into a game where he looks for his personal gain.
Play, play, play.
7
Grandpa Fox News bristles at the inconvenience.
4
Lock him up! Oh, no, that was Hilary Clinton and her indiscreet servers. Whatever Trump does is entirely different and not endangering national security. How silly of me!
21
How does it matter? What makes people think that Chinese and Russian spies can make any more sense of what your president says than the rest of us?
Just two examples of President Trump's lucid pronouncements over the past few days:
- a 10% tax cut for the middle-class before the mid-terms, never mind Congress not being in session.
- tarrifs are not a problem because there are no tariffs at all (in an interview with the WSJ).
17
This could only make me wonder one of two things...either he knows now how WE feel having “big brother” monitoring our internet, our phones, our homes. Or, he doesn’t really care what Russia and China hear, because he’s probably discussed whatever it is with them anyway.
"But aides say the voluble president, who has been pressured into using his secure White House landline more often these days, has still refused to give up his iPhones. White House officials say they can only hope he refrains from discussing classified information when he is on them."
But this sloppy practice of Trump directly flouts US law. So it is now the judgement of his keepers that this President really IS above the law?
6
Add this to the list of major scandals that, in a normal world, would cause enormous political backlash, but in Trumpland, will fall on deaf ears and be removed from public discussion in a day.
Let's see what else we've got:
- Unnamed co-conspirator in Michael Cohen conviction
- Nepotism at the highest levels of our government
- Decades of known, illegal tax evasion
- Pay-to-play via Mar a Lago, Washington Hotel, etc.
- Fraud at Trump University
- Oh, and Russia. Almost forgot about Russia.
That's just off the top of my head. I can't even keep track.
Meanwhile, *nine* pipe bombs were found targeting prominent American leaders and institutions—a former president, a former vice president, a sitting congresswoman, a former secretary of state, a former attorney general, a media organization, etc.—and what does the president do?
He attends a political rally in Wisconsin.
One of, if not the largest domestic terrorism event since 9/11 is literally happening right now—it is currently on-going—and the president is tweeting about Fox & Friends and how the New York Times is fake news.
*How is that at at all acceptable?*
Nothing matters anymore.
Please vote, people.
10
How is this not treasonous behavior? Giving "aid" and comfort to an enemy of the United States. How do you "preserve, protect and defend" the Constitution of the United States by purposefully allowing your phone conversations to be recorded by enemy countries?
How does this promote our security? How is this not an impeachable offense?
16
Sometimes I have to laugh at our own insanity. So, Barack Obama was an African who didn’t have our interests at heart while he committed his entire presidency to providing care for all Americans.
Alright, whose interest does this President have in mind? It certainly does not sound like he cares about the interests of the USA, does he? Perhaps, he cares more about the interests of his Russians handlers.
7
The NY Times and all other media outfits should add up the number of column inches and airtime they devoted to stories that mentioned Clinton's 2009 (i.e. 7 years before the election) emails for the 2 weeks before the election of 2016, and set aside an equal number of column inches and airtime for this ongoing story.
11
He probably says the exact same thing and a totally different thing to each person he speaks to. So it is probably all useless and totally useful to whoever is listening in.
6
jeez, what possibly could go wrong? he misplaced his cell phone at his golf clubhouse locker room?? he doesn't like surveillance; what's he worried that others will find out???
collectively, what does this article tell us about the occupant of the oval office?
2
I agree with Trump. It is incumbent on Apple, Verizon, Att or Sprint to make sure that his phone is secure.
If our cell phones aren’t secure, why should his be any different. The same with the internet. FB is being monitored by the government as well as any online media. If private citizens aren’t allowed the privacy in their own homes, what makes him any different. He shouldn’t be using his private cell phones to government related issues anyway.
1
Really! Mr. lock her up for email that was not compromised. Can we have a vote of no confidence... or just pray Mueller can save us from this moron. Is he really trying to destroy the Western economy and alliances to Russia's advantage? It certainly appears that way and he has no secrets he wants to keep away from his Soviet masters --so why not stay on the unsecured phone. Vote the republicans out--its our only hope!
5
I did not find this article boring, NYT. I did find it horrifying, however.
4
A leader of a nation should know better... I thought he would have learned the importance of security from his work. Also, I am quite unhappy that he does not dig into detail to the briefings he is provided. Makes me worry that he is giving permission to missions without knowing what he is doing....
4
This issue should be yet another accusation against the Fake President when the Articles of Impeachment are drafted by the House of Representatives, his deliberate acquiescence in allowing our international adversaries to acquire private, sensitive information capable of being used to compromise and undermine the President and the United States.
4
How strange. Good luck China. Maybe they can do for us what Congress is unwilling to.
2
Republicans destroyed Hillary Clinton over a private server never accessed by any foreign power, but they will be silent on this obvious breach of national security by Trump. Why is that? Oh well, put this on the agenda when Democrats take back the house. What goes around comes around.
6
And hopefully when the democrats take back the house and senate, trumps security clearance will be cut off immediately!!
3
What's more amazing is that trump's ratings are at an all time high.
As a world traveler never thought much of my fellow Americans, now I know why.
5
Trump's rallies always start with chants of "Lock her up! Lock her up!", meaning Clinton was careless with a few classified e- mails and therefore should go to jail. Hilarious.
5
1) I'm waiting for all of those republican-generated Congressional investigations about "his I-phone-his-I-phone)!! Cue Trey Gowdy!
and
2) The Chinese are listening "in hopes of avoiding a trade war". What? We can rely on the Chinese more than our fake president?
7
I hope our security personnel are tapping his phone calls too. I want to know what he's saying to Putin (how about the interpreter?), Kim Jong-Un, Duterte, MbS and the list goes on. I'm pretty sure he's not talking to them on the secure lines.
3
This is extremely serious!! I say this because there are cell phone spying programs for sale that allows you to listen in on someone’s conversations in a room where the phone is located, even if the person is not using it. These programs can quietly turn on the phone without the user knowing it.
I know this for a fact because I was once given such a program by a hacker a few years ago and I have long deleted it from my system. I’m sure the Chinese and Russians have an even more sophisticated application.
So it’s not just Trump’s calls that are heard and recorded, but the conversations in any room where the phone is located!
3
Russia, if you are listening, please publish the 30,000 phone calls that you can hear and we can’t.
6
So let me get this straight: the politician who made his brand about “locking up” his opponent for unsafe data handling is intentionally ignoring his staff’s pleas to not expose himself to spying a middle schooler could conduct? This latest unpresidential activity, while it clearly pales in comparison to his multitude of other atrocities, needs to be put front and center by Dems. While we all learned later that there was really nothing to the Hillary story other than her lame attempts to side step it, the masses latch on to these things. Dems need to learn from this and highlight things like this that may cause a person or two to question the hypocrisy. Perhaps a “lock him up” mantra needs to be introduced!
5
Apparently he's fine with the possibility of China and Russia listening in. But the FBI, now that's another story!
7
This is just another hit piece timed for the midterms, along with the suspicious packages that most likely the Democrats sent to energize their base. None of Trump supporters care about these hit plants, though.
1
You are right. Trumps base likely does not care about this, and have been conditioned to deny and dismiss news that has become inconvenient for them in some way. However, as someone once said, truth is true whether you believe it or not.
7
@alexgri: But Trump supporters have accused Hillary Clinton of "treason" for using a reportedly unsecure email server. They want to "Lock her up." However, if Trump does the same thing or worse it's perfectly OK. How is that for fractured, super-partisan logic?
6
The President's Twitter response to this detailed report ended with: "Story is soooo wrong!"
I believe the NYT is sooooo right, and give my "so" five "o"s (which beat four "o"s) to prove it.
Please dumb it down to his level for the other side. Facts and figures confuse true believers.
8
What a dope! Does anyone actually believe that the president doesn't talk about things with "friends" that he shouldn't be saying over a phone.
Administration officials say they take "comfort" in the fact that the president is spilling any secrets because he's not that interested in the details and is not well versed in operational specifics of military or covert activities. That just about says it all.
14
is this alone not an impeachable offence?
6
Everything he does is an impeachable offense. I think Mueller is running out of room on his list of trumps offenses.
4
People are asking, "What is The Con Don thinking?"
Answer - he's not.
WE THE PEOPLE must get he and his Robber Baron brethren OUT of OUR governments at all levels before his stupidity destroys us all.
2
We're supposed to be reassured that he's not revealing state secrets because he's too lazy to learn the secrets in the first place? Russia must be blackmailing a whole lot of Republican members of Congress.
2
Why is this article buried in the middle? Why is the headline not screaming of his hypocrisy?
4
BUT HER EMAILS
1
What is truly astounding about this story is that it is not the Chinese or the Russians who listen in and reveal state secrets and phone calls to the world made by the President of the United States of America. It is the New York Times. As and Australian I was astounded when the very first phone call between the then Australian Prime Minister and the President of the USA was immediately and proudly leaked by the New York Times ...To the world. I was also astounded that this did not cause a serious international incident but somehow the Australian Prime Minister didn't seem to care. Almost like he was part of the deal himself. How this could happen without serious consequences for all those involved? Surely this is not just a breach of any kind of international diplomacy but it is Treason by definition in any country in the world. That is except, it seems, in the USA for reason best known to American idiocy. Spying on the President of the United States of America seems to be just fine and dandy as long as it carried out by the New York (owned by a Mexican) Times. Now maybe you can explain to us in Australia how you can spy on our Prime Minister when he has a private phone conversation with the President of the USA. And please explain how that is not an intentional crime by any standards.
It seems that the New York Times are the ones that reveal state secrets.
But her emails! Lock her up! (By comparison, Trump is Treason).
1
Mr. Trump probably thinks that because the government pays his cell phone bill it's a government phone. (And I'm sure he makes the taxpayers foot the bill for it.)
2
Didn't we monitor German Chancellor Merkel and Brazilian president Rousseff in their private conversation? Nonetheless, it seems irresponsible for the president to ignore the suggestion and/or advice on phone security from our national security team. Instead of blaming Russia and China, we need to take responsibility by our own or use a more secure phone like Blackberry or Huawei's Mate 20 (?).
1
Force him back to a flip phone, with no internet service. Only for personal calls. No tweeting, no government issues.
"They said they had further confidence he was not spilling secrets because he rarely digs into the details of the intelligence he is shown and is not well versed in the operational specifics of military or covert activities." In other words, he is too ignorant to do more than play president. The only things he does are watch Fox, lie every time he opens his mouth, stuff his ever expanding gut and go out and rabble rouse his dimwitted base. What a guy.
2
Business at the Trump International golf course is down 50% from a year ago. He’s calling Putin and the oligarchs on his unmonitored phone to get additional $loans. Follow the money!
1
Obama gave up his private phone. This is yet another way Trump endangers national security. Perhaps his security clearance should be revoked.
1
Where are the chants of “Lock him up?”
1
This is the guy who wants to “lock her up” for being careless with her server? You can’t make this stuff up. When are the Americans who still have faith in this proto-fascist going to wake up?
2
And to think Trump and the GOP crucified Hillary for using a private server.
“But his iPhones!”
1
The stable genius with a very large brain obviously cannnot grasp the concept of national security. Maybe the so-called adults around him should take away his iPhone and give him a playphone. Or maybe the Chinese and Russians are as bemused by his mindless babble as the rest of us.
2
Do you believe Trump - a proven liar, sociopath and misogynist, or the NEW YORK TIMES with more than 100 years of impeccable, award-winning, trustworthy journalism behind it? Even the newspaper boy who delivers the New York Times to the White House is more trustworthy than Trump. He simply lies to get himself out of whatever hole he has dug for himself with his previous lie - which was itself an attempt, almost certainly, to cover-up the lie before that. The man inhabits a different world to every one else, and has done so apparently since he was a little boy, not that he has ever grown up. It is noteworthy that the guy who actually wrote The Art of the Deal - Trump's ghostwriter - is on record as saying that Trump is so sociopathic and unworldly, that he should never be trusted with the nuclear codes, that could set off World War 3. Now that is troubling.
2
Donald Trump is just the clown show put on to entertain and distract while grown-ups around him formulate and implement policy.
I strongly suggest that everyone ought to listen to the 45 minute talk Mike Pence gave at the Hudson Institute recently, if you want to know what our government is really up to with respect to China. Pence speaks in complete sentences -- imagine that! -- and has a reasonably coherent tale to tell. It's a tale of paranoid Cold War thinking straight out of the Herman Kahn/Dr. Strangelove playbook, mind you, but it isn't just the silly Trumpian blather we are treated to 24/7 in the funny papers. It ain't no interview with Donald and a bubblehead on Fox News.
It's time for 'journalists' at the Times, Post and other supposed papers of record to stop reporting the Punch and Judy puppet show and start providing real insight into what our far right government is up to, with Trump as its 'useful idiot,' distraction and decoy. All of the fruitcake right-wing 'think tanks' are having a field day, playing out their fantasies using the federal government and its vast resources as though they own all of it.
Because right now, they do own all of it - lock, stock and barrel. They bought it and took over, right under our noses -- while we were being 'entertained.'
3
The article provides no evidence to back up the headline.
@Margaret Leo, the evidence is in paragraphs 1 and 4, among others.
2
Everybody's thinking: if you're told you're being spied on and you know that your phone is used by hostile nations to get information that compromises national security, and then you keep doing it over and over again, then, call me a hick, but if that ain't treason could somebody tell me what treason is?
4
What can you say? Trump is the naked emperor criticizing other's clothing.
6
Easier than hacking a server.
Get out and vote.
3
Along with the NSA. This should also help Mueller.
Cheers!
2
Remember when everyone was screaming about Hillary Clinton using an unsecured phone because the department was too busy to get her a secure one? Republicans insisted that a breach of security MIGHT happen and therefore she belonged in prison. Remember that? Now EVERYONE in Trump's administration uses unsecured phones EVERY DAY even though they KNOW the phones have been breached by MULTIPLE COUNTRIES. But it's okay if you're a republican.
2
Why would anybody doubt the veracity of this report? I would not be surprised if we find out that Trump has Putin on speed dial and consults with his Russian handlers on a daily basis.
2
After Bloomberg proudly reported that the Chinese put spy chips in Amazon and Apple, NYT joined to report that the Chinese and Russians are listening to Trump’s phone calls. These reports are conspiracy theory tabloid but sound more believable because one, they are not from small newspapers, two, most people including the reporters do not know how these technologies work deep inside, so most likely they believe them. My comment is not to defend our idiotic president and/or the named nations.
@Jas Hunter, that Bloomberg report now appears to be erroneous. And there's nothing mysterious about the vulnerability of a consumer-grade cellphone's voice transmissions. This NYT report cites government officials who are aware that U.S. spy agencies have learned of Chinese intercepts of Trump calls. That's entirely plausible.
1
"...unsecured email server..." I think the authors meant 'private email server'. No one has suggested that Hillary Clinton's server was ever compromised.
2
But her e-mails!
1
At this point what is standing between us and getting rid of this psychotic pretender to the throne are the Republican representatives in office who are protecting him. Instead of covering every single thing he does every single moment, I say we turn the light on all of the Republicans in office ..let’s hammer them let’s take them out let’s expose everyone of them
6
How do you think he communicates to his boss, Vladimir Putin!
He doesn't do it on his official phone with aides and national security personnel listening!
Geez
6
Similar to our pathological liar's plea to Russia:
Russia [and China] if you are listening, I hope you are able to find his missing private calls on his unsecured iPhone and release them through Wikileaks before the election.
And his chanting slogan against HRC:
Lock him up! Really!
5
The Boomer Spy Festival and Paper Circus Market. Such a great coda for each Chinese, US and Russian posse of postwar brats.
Ha ha, hard to believe! Trump is a Russian asset. He was "Put-in" office, not elected, and everyone knows it. I believe he knows it too. That makes him a WILLING ASSET, a traitor and a criminal... in addition to being a moral bankrupt.
2
May be if someone can impress upon Trump that his personal revelations over the phone might be gathered and used to blackmail him by Russia and China (much like the rumored hotel tryst with prostitutes in Moscow), may be, just may be, this incorrigible child will listen and agree to stop making calls on unsecured phones? One can only hope!
2
He hasn’t listened to a single one of his advisors, intelligence, or family. Because “he’s a smart man, the smartest.” He knows everything. He thinks he’s omnipotent. But he probably doesn’t even know what that word means...because he knows “all the best words.” ...”and many more...” His favorite end to his list of 2.
3
Trump is a traitor won't listen to our FBI and other agencies who know these facts to be the truth. Impeach now.
2
Ya, but her emails!
2
How else will he be able to run his businesses?
3
I'm sure his buddy, Xi, will get him the latest model Huawei for Christmas. Very special, 'Presidential Edition,' only one like it in the world ...
2
Plain and simple : lock him up !
11
Who are we kidding. Agent Orange doesn't have any "friends"
3
The bumbling Idiot in Chief. This would normally be amusing if he couldn't cause so much damage in the process.
Although, "normal" countries would keep people like this in reality shows instead of nominating for president. Perhaps next candidate could be The Situation from Jersey Shore - can't get any worse.
5
President Trump is a weak man. Yet another display of his inability to act reasonably. Sad.
2
Prove it.
1
Build a wall, for national security. Ban all Muslims, for national security. Impose tariffs, for national security. But don't touch his precious cellphone, while everyone from the Chinese, Russians and a 400lb kid on his bed can listen in. The mark of a stable genius indeed. My God how did anyone vote for this imbecile?
7
Trump is using an unauthorized device, endangering the security of the country. Republicans who investigated Hillary Clinton for the same misuse should begin immediate hearings to determine the damage done. Democrats should begin their campaign with the cry of "Lock him up".
8
"Administration officials said Mr. Trump’s longtime paranoia about surveillance — well before coming to the White House he believed his phone conversations were often being recorded — gave them some comfort that he was not disclosing classified information on the calls. They said they had further confidence he was not spilling secrets because he rarely digs into the details of the intelligence he is shown and is not well versed in the operational specifics of military or covert activities."
So Trump's own inability to listen means that he has nothing to spill. What a world we live in.
386
@Michael Was he being paranoid? His own lawyer was taping his calls - as he may have known or suspected.
2
One thing at least the Chinese and Russians will learn from eavesdropping on Trump's phone calls to all his highly respected confidants is his bathroom schedule.
3
How comforting to read that Trump is not giving away secrets because he is simply too clueless to understand or remember any of the classified information he’s been given. And to think we elected this bozo over emails.
15
Who needs back channels anymore?
3
What is the news here? Every country is listening in including us. Remember we bugged German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cell phone? I am sure the Israeli are listening in our politicians calls as well. Why single out Russian and Chinese here? Are you trying to beefing up the current administration's anti-China and anti-Russian policy?
1
@Sam I guess you have forgotten the multitude of Congressional hearings about "her emails! her emails!"
5
The next tell-all book about a dysfunctional White House in crisis will probably be written in Mandarin or Cantonese.
8
I wish I could paste this to the front door of every Trump supporter in the country.
6
no such thing as important or not or have or not, say/can say any no matter what
I guess he’s a puppet not just of Russia but of China too.
5
Trump the imbecile disclosed classified information to Russian diplomats in the Oval Office, jeopardizing covert sources. Later, he disclosed to US reporters code-word intelligence level information about an ISIL plot to use exploding laptops in America, which imperiled sources in the Middle East. He revealed to Duarte, the thug President of the Philippines, that the US had stationed subs off the coast of North Korea, betraying classified information. Then he leaked info about the Manchester bombing, which led to a rare rebuke from the UK. There is, of course, the near constant trickle of leaks from the White House since Trump took office, raising suspicion that the Trump himself is the source. And his efforts to create "back channels" with Putin and the unrecorded meeting with Putin also raises more questions about his respect for discretion.
If Trump was employed in the civil service, this behaviour would have resulted in his termination. So, asking him not to discuss classified information on his iPhone? Good luck with that. The Chinese and Russians will be dining on Trump's insolence and ineptitude for years.
No wonder the other Four Eyes have initiated a review of protocols for information sharing with the US.
8
Can we trade him for all those people on the way from Guatemala? It would improve national security immediately.
2
Wasn't Donald the man leading the Trumpists in the "lock her up" chant?! Wasn't it his puppets the Congressional Republicans who investigates Mrs. Clinton for years, because of using a private server?!
This is rich! Donald has been warned his cell phone is not secure but continues to use it! Who's side is Donald on? One guess: Russia.
4
No doubt it's the spy who pulls the short straw that gets to listen in on Ren & Stimpy phone calls.
2
There is not a single FOX loyalist, watcher / listener who will ever believe this. And here are are.
10
I'm sure we will all get to hear these very intelligent phone calls as soon as every teenage hacker in his cell tower vicinity begins recording them onto YouTube !
4
and Trump lovers chant--- lock her up-- why? Because she had a private email server... specifically Trump and his lovers said because she was putting America at risk and giving secret information on a private server. Here he is every moment of the day with China and Russia and Saudi Arabia of course. but Trump lovers are saying what about it???
5
That’s the best news I’ve read today. Maybe the Chinese can do something Americans have failed at so far...talk some sense into Trump’s head. They’d be doing the world a favor.
3
...and he made (makes) a big deal out of Clinton's emails. Lock HIM up!
4
I don't care that he's president. I don't care that his base likes him. I don't care that the full faith and credit of the governments of the various United States stands behind him. I don't care that he was duly elected. I'm so spitting mad all the time this man and his minions make a mockery of our laws and our national security. I don't care because they don't care.
Somebody needs to pry those phones from his cold, tiny fingers. Enough of this childish buffoon doing as he pleases, regardless of consequences for the rest of us. ENOUGH already.
3
IMSI Catchers or Stingrays are all the rage. The trump party line allows unhibited access to the gibberish. Listen to the dialog of egg shell ego cracking and cackling as they voice their insecurities to willing sponges.
Those snoopers require therapy after each shift.
3
How inconvenient national security is to Trump, I so not sympathize. I said it before and still say it, Trump is our greatest national security risk. And, he wants a phone he can call Putin on since Kushner and others failed to get him a secure backchannel to the murdering dictator he admires and loves so much because of money ties and Putin's massive campaign to get Trump elected president.
Hello Trump, Putin has his own agenda concerning you and don't think you are in charge of it because you are not. He is a better manipulator than you and anyone and everyone can manipulate you by just saying, "Nice tie. You look handsome." and then trying to mean it.
Can't you just see Trump thinking any and all calls to Putin and his obscenely rich donor backers, not the same as friends Trump as like you they want tit for tat, and maybe to Salman are private conversations because he is not using either government cell?
The man cannot learn and will not be told anything by anyone so he is probably giving away state secrets if anyone is crazy enough to still share them with him. But, I doubt it. I wonder how much is actually told to Kushner as he is busy running Trump Org.
4
Maybe they can tell us what is going on.
9
The evil irony of Trumpsters yelling “lock her up” over Hillary’s cell phone use, is not lost on anyone.
7
@Kathy M
Wrong. It is sadly completely lost on his transfixed 'Trump-is-our-savior' base.
2
Isn't this as bad as Hillary using Clinton Foundation emails/servers than State Department? A dangerous combination of recklessness, selfishness and arrogance.
3
Criminal activity on the part of the President.
12
While all of American law enforcement is running around trying to avert bombs, turns out the worst one is out in the open, ticking away at the golf course in New Jersey.
7
Every year I am required to take Cyber-security training at my place of employment. If I behaved this cavalierly regarding sensitive information I would be shown the door.
5
Listening to Trump’s calls isn’t as big a risk as it would be for a different President. Ever listen to his speeches? Incoherent. Wandering. Interspersed with Hillary and Pocahontas diatribes. Might actually help USA by giving eavesdroppers an accurate estimation of Trump’s prowess.
2
Here's one example where Trump's significant limitations may turn out to work in the country's best interests.
2
Sounds like a "Lock him up" issue to me, if Donald Trump's ralliy chants are really about the disregard of security.
3
The only way to know if he is leaking classified information is to have the FBI or the NSA tap his phones.
2
Relying on his technical ineptitude and lack of detail in his attention to briefings isn’t a security plan most institutions would consider acceptable.
3
And no surprise to anyone that Mr. Trump denied that he has used a private iPhone, the man is exhausting.
2
This is not news. We have all known about this monster security problem since before Trump was elected. Everyone who voted for him knew that they were voting for a national security sieve.
3
Who needs a back door connection to Russia when it appears the White House front door is wide open.
5
LOCK HIM UP!
The FBI needs to be monitoring Trump's cellphone calls to see if he is divulging classified information. Hillary was chastised by the FBI director for using a private server for her messages. What was good for that goose should certainly apply to this gander.
1
That settles it: if Trump uses an iPhone, I’m getting rid of mine and am going to get some other brand.
1
Trump’s choice is Android. He is being “forced” to use iPhones. If you want to boycott a product Trump uses and is identified with, start with Twitter. And Fox.
1
If they can listen to Trump's calls, shouldn't we also assume they can send Tweets in his name?
I'd love to know how the listeners are reacting. Are they fascinated? Rolling their eyes? Laughing? Or, after listening to this president all day, do they go home at night to drown themselves in vodka?
1
China, if you're listening, release his phone calls!
And Russia, release his tax returns!
And America, vote your conscience, not your gut.
2
To Trump, there is no such thing as classified information. He is above all that.
LOCK HIM UP!!! LOCK HIM UP!!! Not for his criminal use of unsecured phones but more importantly for his reckless destruction of the basic decency, honesty and integrity of our republic.
When will this nightmare end and at what ultimate cost to our country and western democracies ?
6
May be Chinese, but not Russians as Mr Putin might be getting his daily status reports from our White House. So need to listen to his phone calls.
It's unsurprising that Trump is reckless in this way, when he's shown habitual recklessness in every other way, from business to the most intimate of things.
But personal recklessness is one thing. Recklessness with the business of this nation is quite another. Not only is he opening himself to more opportunities for blackmail, but he is stoking fears, including a nosedive on Wall Street.
Maybe David Stockman is right after all and his prediction that we will have a crash on Wall Street right before the election will come true.
Trump is the most destabilizing force in this nation. After almost two years, it is taking its toll on everything around us, and it will leave everyone vulnerable to more loss than during the Great Recession and open us to strife. As it is, today's news about bombs is the clearest indication of how much of a shot in the arm he's given to right wing extremism.
The rest of his fellow oligarchs thought they'd be able to control Trump. Not even having an almost all Koch-backed cabinet has achieved that. Not even having plants in the White House, if we are to believe the anonymous op-ed, is achieving that. Trump does what he wants, when he wants, how he wants and his party is allowing him. Had Obama continued to use his personal phone, how long before he would have been impeached?
We're a nation in trouble. Money in politics, corporate greed & recklessness is what gave us Trump.
--
'Things Trump Did While You Weren’t Looking' https://wp.me/p2KJ3H-2ZW
303
Everything about this is hilarious. America's enemies can listen in on Trump's unvarnished id (terrifying) but can't get any classified info because the president is too stupid/lazy to ever learn classified info.
American and allied forces labored dangerously for years to break German and Japanese codes in World War II. Later, American submarines picked undersea cables off the ocean floor to listen to the Russians. Generations later, our president is transmitting in the clear.
628
Seriously, I think he's already the puppet of Russia, probably sending secret messages to them via his open phone chat. That nobody there cares about this , and they all do nothing is appalling.
1
How is this any different from Hillary Clinton’s use of her own email server? By Trump’s own logic, should we “lock him up?”
2
What? And this guy was worried about Clinton's emails and leads chants in lock 'er up! No, we need to see traitor Don for the con is always been. Get rid of the barbarian who pulled us out of the 1951 UN treaty about refugees, so he can call them an invading army and inflame his hatred of foreigners. He bankrupted casinos and will do the same to us.
2
He knows that he has nothing important to say, so he does not care.
There is a much larger societal problem at work here. The "rules don't apply" to the King (CEO/President/Wealthy, etc.). So what if Trump doesn't follow security rules and possibly talks about classified information that the Chinese and Russians listen in on? Trump doesn't care, and who is going to make him care? No one.
Anyone who works for or is involved with any major organization, company, or institution has seen this all many times before. Those at the top, those with wealth, power, and influence, simply do not and will not follow any rule they wish to ignore. Even when it is very easy to follow the rules and comply, the Oligarchs-in-Chief will do what ever they want to do, no matter what.
And why do they do that? Simple - because they know no one will stop them or hold them accountable for failure to comply with the rules. Not the Board of Directors, not the shareholders, not the republican party, not Congress, no one. These sociopaths know the game is rigged, they know that nobody is in charge of the game, and that they can get away with anything they want. And they do, all the time.
3
And yet Trump still says Hillary's email were the true threat to National security. Not him reveiling classified information from an ally to the Russians, and not his unsecured phone calls. We should find some demeaning petty nickname for him. Maybe "Leaky Donald"...
3
If this is true, Trump is knowingly giving aid and comfort to America's enemy in a trade war. Does that count as treason?
5
He doesn’t read security briefings nor confide in our national security agencies so anything that he is speaking about on said phone comes simply from the “ highest levels” of Fox or one of its degenerate, no-good, mild-altering networks. And that clearly is not “high level” at all. May we please start clean-up mode on Nov 6. vote.
3
Why is he discussing sensitive, much less secret, information with his friends, many of whom, if not all, are not cleared to begin with? This is not childish as some here have suggested, it’s criminal. But now we have a Supreme Court Justice who believes that a sitting president can’t be indicted. Perhaps not even for treason. Trump has now been warned publicly that his irresponsible actions may be giving aid to our enemies. Let’s see if members of his own Party tell him to cool it or play along until the next round of tax cuts for billionaires goes through.
5
I get that this report is published in the “failing” “fake news” NY Times, so we cannot know for sure if any of it is accurate. But if it is even remotely possible that any of it is accurate, should this not induce the same level of investigation as the use of a private email server by a high-level government official?
The buck stops with the voters. You don't need anything more than common sense to realize that Trump is committing offenses worse than what Hillary was accused off. The fact that many voters still back Trump indicates to me that their voting is about "values", polices, or the good of America - it's about their tribe. It also makes sense why a Democratic president can do much for many of them, but still never get credit.
1
He was called out on this nearly two years ago, but he ignored it. How the White House, the SS, the GOP and his base can tolerate this practice is gobsmacking.
He's a fool being played and listened in on by our most powerful adversaries.
The sad part is he believes himself to be a genius with a very good brain and the best words.
4
Heck, they are all pals, so let them listen in. Trump is the smartest human who ever lived and there is nothing that they can do that would slow him down.
Just kidding. Trump; has the emotional maturity of an adolescent, he just does not like adults telling him what to do. The Russians and the Chinese will eventually use what they hear in some way which will embarrass him, then he will wise up.
1
This will lead to the deaths of American intelligence agents and soldiers, if it hasn’t already. But hey the Dow is up!
Or was.
2
Loose lips sink ships.....the mantra of WWII
My Mom worked as an international phone operator during WWII. She had to connect FDR to Churchill numerous times. She never repeated anything she heard, never. My uncle designed battleships over at the Navy Yard, also silence.
Trump is a menace.
3
Right, this is the man who invokes rules and tariffs and changes regulations in the name of national security.
7
@Tom, everything is a pretext with Trump. There is no legitimate policy goal or reasoning to back up his actions. It's the Pretextual Presidency.
Didn't Hillary do the exact same thing with emails except there was no indication that her server was ever hacked? Where's the outrage?
2
Of course Trump uses his Iphones. That’s how he makes his reports to Putin.
4
The aides "hope" this monster in the Oval Office isn't discussing classified information with his buddies? Trump knows no boundaries. So, of course, he feels entitled to discuss anything he wishes to with anyone he finds acceptable. This is very dangerous. But, of course, Congress will do nothing because Trump has frightened all of them. Let's face it, a majority of citizens in this country are frightened by this monster. No, "hope" isn't good enough.
6
Where was the NYT when HRC was using unsecured phones and a unsecured server to do government business. These acts should have disqualified her from holding public office.
2
@wes evans I guess you didn't see or read any of the front pages stories in the NYT about "her emails! her emails!".
2
Seriously, add this to the list of malfeasance and arrogance. And given Trump is endangering national security, add it to the list of impeachable offenses. Yes, I am serious — this is not a joking matter.
3
The most astonishing item in this report is to learn that the president has friends. In two years there's been no evidence of these mythical creatures. Now, all at once, it emerges that not one, but two of them exist! It's like sighting both the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot.
2
Mr. Trump puts his personal needs and wants above those of the country he has sworn to serve. Unbelievable.
5
It's perfectly believable. Trump didn't understand the oath he took, and he took it in bad faith. His goal is that of Putin: to demolish the U.S. government.
Gee, I seem to remember candidate Trump being very incensed at Hillary Clinton's use of an insecure server to send emails. Made quite a stink about it as I recall.
How about it Trumpsters, is what Trump is doing with his phone okay with you? Inquiring minds want to know.
7
Well, NYT, as many commenters have noticed, you're kind of on the spot. You covered Hillary's emails until exhaustively was exhausted. Top of the fold, big type.
What you're reporting here is what was alleged, but never ever shown in Hillary's case. Hillary could have been insecure (in the real world, highly unlikely). Trump is grotesquely, critically insecure.
Top of the fold, big type tomorrow? And the day after? And the day after?
8
There’s a huge difference between Trump using insecure phones and Hillary Clinton using a private e-mail server.
Ms. Clinton constantly denied it until the evidence and absurdity of the denial were immensely obvious (and politically damaging). Trump just doesn’t give a hoot and is up front about it.
Hillary is a sneak, Donald a bully.
Both are wrong. Trump very much more so.
Jesustapdancingchrist. Someone, somewhere in the administration must have the guts and words needed to tell the president why enabling spying on his phone calls is a bad thing. If nothing else, the knowledge gained of his personality, foibles, pet peeves, weaknesses and pressure points will someday becused as leverage.
6
And this was the guy saying “Lock her up!”?
1
I’ve reached the point where I can stand to listen to Trump for only about 15 seconds, which is about the time it takes to find the remote and hit the mute button. I’d hate to think what egregious error a foreign agent made to deserve being put on Trump eavesdropping duty.
1
Less we forget them, the Republican Congress spent millions investigating Hillary Clinton's private email server. Yet, they seem OK with Trump using an unsecured phone that they know is tapped. They are all hipocrits.
6
It’s simple. Trump is using a lot of his time as President to line his own pockets. He has 4 years to finally make himself a billionaire and actually make himself rich again. Remember he
doesnt own any of the properties with his name on it ever since he went bankrupt (more than once). The point is that he doesn’t want anyone in the US security or judicial system recording or listening in when he negotiates personal deals with China for himself and his daughter. He knows China is where he can become very rich and it’s likely that behind the scenes he is trading off tariff threats with private deals, most likely for his daughter, who has already received benefits from the Chinese for her (now defunct) company. Eventually though I have no doubt that after he leaves office, Trump towers will pop up all over China. All this is why he uses personal phones. There is indeed a method to his madness.
5
This is the evidence that Trump doesn’t really care about America or, alternatively, this shows that his mental fitness is not that great, after all.
5
@Armando can't it be both?
1
No mention of Blackberry at all in this entire piece? Wow! The phones, the OS, now the Android versions and the new secure Spark platform.
What is/was Blackberry?
Trump tweeted this morning that he uses a government land line and has a 'seldom used' government cell phone. That's it. So what is he doing all this texting on? More proveable lying from the Prince of iniquity.
4
@Lisa Biladeau
It would be news if he actually told the truth.
1
Ignores all required presidential protocols, highlighting his incompetency to hold this powerful position! Nothing is ever a surprise, especially the most terrible things.
4
Trump’s “casual approach to electronic security” is a concern that justifies the invocation of the 25th Amendment. Either he is no longer in the position to realise the security risk his reckless behaviour poses to the country. Or he simply does what it suits him, thinking he can get away with impunity.
That Trump refuses to give up his personal iPhones is not in order. He uses these unsecured cell phones to call all sorts of people he relies on for advice or simply to vent his anger and frustration. This constitutes a violation of security policy, which identifies the rules and procedures for all individuals accessing and using an organisation's IT assets and resources.
As voluble and indiscrete as he is, he could easily let the cat out of the bag. Since he managed to cheat his way into the White House, flouting security rules is – in the eyes of Congressional Republicans – seems not a big deal.
8
Of course, there are two sides to this knowledge that rival states are listening in - the phones become a wonderful means of deception if that needs to come into play. For instance, when I bought my last car my wife and I, knowing that the salesman's office was probably bugged, engaged in a pointed conversation about what price we would accept for the car - and the manager came in a few minutes later with an offer for just that amount.
3
@Woody, wouldn’t it be nice if someone in the Oval Office were smart enough to use it that way?
Someone who has not (and likely could not, based on what is known of his personal history) passed a basic security clearance background check for federal employees should never be given access to classified information.
13
“They said they had further confidence he was not spilling secrets because he rarely digs into the details of the intelligence he is shown and is not well versed in the operational specifics of military or covert activities.”
This is an astonishing statement. He rarely digs into details? Asks questions? Not well versed in operations? He’s the CinC!
“Mr President, we think these guys need nuking”
“Okay, do it now”
“Don’t want to ask? Check we have the right response?”
“Nah”
-pause-
“What city did we just destroy?”
“Erm, Paris I think sir”
“Why?”
“Had a tip that Kim-Jong was there at a bread-making course”
“And was he?”
“Um, no. Now we need to get you to the bunker as the sirens are going...”
11
The president is not some sovereign emperor or ruler. Take the phones away from him. He is irresponsible and endangering the security of this country. Frankly when he acts like a spoiled child, he must be treated like one.
21
Enough is enough.
U.S. Constitution, Article 3, Section 3: Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.
Does this pattern of willful negligence not come dangerously close? Dems why are you not doing anything? What do you stand for?
The cell phone thing is actually an old story reported first shortly after inauguration. It provided low-hanging fruit for democrats to hammer, but no: They spent weeks on the intractable Kavanaugh psychodrama--having first rolled over when the GOP stole Obama's right to appoint--and then K was inaugurated anyway. Throwing the game?
Trump must be removed from office for knowingly compromising state security.
8
Trump's efforts to destabilize, dismantle, and defraud the government certainly deserve punishment, but I don't see how he can be guilty of Constitutional treason if the U.S. is not at war with Russia or China. An adversary is not an "enemy" unless there is a war.
Where are the Right Wing holy warriors, like Jim Jordan, Chafetz, Trey Gowdy, and Pompeo who raked Hillary over the cinders 10 - 11 times over her use of servers at home? I do not hear a peep out of them. What happened? Did all of them get something stuck in the throat or is it just a case of constipation at the other end? Either way, something is stuck somewhere.
Perhaps they need to contact a Russian doctor over Jared Kushner's servers in the Russian Embassy. In Russia, I hear, it's quite common for people to lose their voice when the wind stops blowing in the right direction.
22
And to think Mueller didn’t have info to go on without these taped conversations. Mr. Trump & his “advisors” are ripe targets for blackmail. Get out & vote.
BTW - in tonight’s rally, Mr. Trump said the bombs went to former “government officials”. Does that mean we can refer to him with that term when he is booted out?
6
"former government official" will be the kindest possible term used to describe him......I can think of MANY other more specific terms that will distinguish him from other "former government officials".
1
Taking comfort in the probability our president's not disclosing state secrets because he's an ignoramus isn't really much comfort, is it?
34
One would think that Trump would have learned something from the Hillary email saga.
9
The difference is that, according to the FBI, there is zero evidence that her server was hacked. Apparently we have human intelligence with evidence that Trump's calls are head by the Chinese and Russians.
5
Not the sharpest pencil in the box....as we all know. Basically Trump can be manipulated.....as we all know.
13
Also listening in are the British, the French, the Israelis, the Lower Slobovians and the Ferengi, who based many of their Rules of Acquisition on Trump's maunderings (e.g., Rule #5: "Always exaggerate your estimates." and Rule #13 "Anything worth doing is worth doing for money"). The Canadians used to listen too but they found him insufferably boring.
11
@Harold Hill
That made my day. Thank you.
I can visualize the leaders of every country on the planet tucking into their bowls of popcorn as they listen to today’s episode of Donnie’s Telephone Chats.
23
"but those emails..."
9
After Trump was laughed at by the entire world at the UN recently, it looks like all of those other countries are listening in too! Because they already know Trump never tells the truth, only lies!
16
What trump really needs is his own email server. Maybe he would like to borrow one from Hilary...
17
Everything that Trump and the right wing have alleged against Hillary and screamed that she should be locked up for, Trump has actually done blatantly and in spades.
Everything.
Shame on Trump and shame on all those who would imprison Hillary for far, far less.
18
Do the Chinese really need to spy on Trump in order to influence him? The source perhaps didn't have the stomach to go there at length, but there's probably a lot more spying going on, than gossip mongering.
2
Congress, here is another chance to begin a years’ long investigation. Sure it’s not Hillary, but still, but shouldn’t you republicans at least feign interest in the threat of unsecured phone callls?
15
And Republicans and Trump kept bringing up Hillary's e-mails... Hypocrisy continues - when will red staters see this? Very frustrating.
6
Just another example of how selfish and clueless Mr. Trump is about modern communications and signals intelligence. Gentlemen do indeed read other gentlemen's mail.
4
How is this not analogous to Hilary Clinton's poor choice to use private email and a private server as Secretary of State, which Trump made a central complaint of his campaign. I think that was a reasonable complaint about Clinton's judgment, and it's an equally reasonable complaint about his own with the addition that he should have learned from a situation about which he was so critical. However, one of his staff's defenses in this case is that he essentially can't learn things, which supposedly means he never remembers classified information, so I suppose we can't expect him to learn from history either. In addition to exposing once again his terrible judgment and eight-year old stubbornness when told what to do by those more knowledgeable, it demonstrates that even when he hits on a valid criticism of opponents, it's not a principled stand: it's merely another way to brawl.
5
@cary You forget that there was NEVER any evidence that her email server was hacked. But here we have proof that his phone conversations have been listened to. A very important difference!
2
Trust me, his conversations are not worth listening to.
3
The GOP made a big deal about Hillary's emails not being secure and wondered who had access to them. Why isn't a bigger stink being made about Trump's calls on his unsecured line?
9
So why don't any of our security agencies (FBI, CIA National security council, ...) take his phone away?
Maybe they have kept anything sensitive away from him.
4
It's a good thing he's so addled, or we would be in an even bigger mess.
I mean, how sad that that is reassuring?!?
If the Chinese can get anything actionable out of his babbling, it's more than I can.
Listening to him is so odious and exhausting and non-sensical ... I've given up.
So, maybe for all that effort, the Chinese deserve an occasional inside track?
And no, calm down, that's not treason. Or even wishful thinking.
That's just one wiped out American's 'take' on this theater of the absurd that now masquerades as the Executive branch.
5
“Trump’s lack of tech savvy has alleviated some other security concerns. He does not use email, so the risk of a phishing attack like those used by Russian intelligence to gain access to Democratic Party emails is close to nil.” Apparently Trump’s illiteracy has a silver lining. But then again, the barrier created inadvertently by illiteracy is breached by stupidity in talks and tweets. History would record the compromised national interest by Trump’s loose tongue. Sadly, one may not be able to try him for treason because stupidity is not a crime. And even if he were tried, lack of mental faculty would be a strong defense and upheld by the new pro-Trump Supreme Court which he has very intelligently stacked with his supporters on the bench. Therein lies Trump’s “stable genius”, a conundrum that belies the lack of mental capability as a legal defense.
3
Hmm. Recall how Tillerson and Kelly described him?
5
And this miserable walking piece of refuse had the gall to criticize Clinton for compromising national security for using a private email server? Running him out of DC on a rail is too good for him.
11
Maybe instead of warning him that Russia may be listening, they should tell him it's the Iranians listening to his conversations. Hah - maybe they are in fact listening in!
4
Perhaps someone can point out the hypocrisy - Hillary’s emails, Donald’s phone. Maybe he’s well aware. Its his back channel.
7
I remember of days gone by the stickers on our telephones, both in the government and in the employ of a defense contractor that stated to not discuss classified information on the telephone.
Annual security briefings continually impressed to never discuss classified information in the public, over the phone or in email.
I was a custodian of a secure telephone unit. Perhaps Dear Leader needs to be educated, but, there is no educating an imbecile that believes he knows all.
However, in Trump's case of gabbing over the phone, perhaps all they hear is his babbling nonsense we get from his hate speeches.
10
If you went to a comedy movie and this was the script, you would think "what a buffoon". Unfortunately, it is not amusing when the man is our actual president. His actions and words are sad and dangerous for our country. Hope our nation will survive him and the continual damage he is inflicting on our nation.
5
""They said they had further confidence he was not spilling secrets because he rarely digs into the details of the intelligence he is shown and is not well versed in the operational specifics of military or covert activities""
Sorry but this sentence is really hilarious. In short, he can't tell any secrets bc he is too lazy or too dumb or just not interested in knowing what the intelligence briefings are really about.
Got it right?
11
@MD
The mentality of a flea.
Well, this is just pure genius....
2
“American spy agencies, the officials said, had learned that China and Russia were eavesdropping on the president’s cellphone calls from human sources inside foreign governments and intercepting communications between foreign officials.”
By publishing this article, NY Times is putting the lives of human sources inside foreign governments at great danger. It is very irresponsible.
1
@DeepPurple Trump is putting our country in great danger by his infantile irresponsibility and it’s somehow “very irresponsible” to report it? What bizarre logic.
3
If they can figure out
how he thinks please
share it with the American
people.
8
Conversations with Trump are merely dummy traffic, right? Actually, not, he is in violation of a number of regulations and the aides who don't stop him are themselves at fault.
6
No one does irony like this guy...
At least he upgraded from his Blackberry from the last time this was reported, last year...
Maybe it doesn't matter...he lies about everything so the spies will never know the difference.
9
The Chinese agents listening deserve a degree of sympathy for the babble they have to record. Of course, they certainly have many laughs as well . . .
3
And how do those "intelligence reports" know this? By bugging the Russians and the Chinese?
1
There have been three USG investigations of Hillary Clinton's private e-mail server, which, incidentally, was one of the few servers that was never hacked by the Russians.
Question one: How many investigations have there been of Trump's use of unsecure phones, which anyone can listen in on? Answer: zero. But never fear: a Democrat-controlled House will remedy this deficiency.
Question two: What is the foolproof way to get President Trump to ditch his insecure phones? Answer: Don't tell him China and Russia are listening in. Tell him that the New York Times and the Washington Post are listening in, and will be publishing transcripts of the calls. Just a thought.
7
Give me a break. If the Chinese are listening, the NSA is for sure. If something classified is discussed, NSC knows immediately. Too bad Hillary's server wasn't monitored by the NSA--or, perhaps, it was. A few questions for Obama?
The president* tells the Russians everything he knows, in person. Why would he be concerned if heard his phone calls?
3
An interesting way to collude with the Soviets: speak of national security matters through a medium known to be hacked/tapped/monitored by his Russian masters.
3
This is likely his indirect mode of communication to both Putin and Xi...to whom he is both personally indebted and compromised.
2
Want him to stop being such a risk to national security? (and his whole family and circle of friends should never even be considered for security clearances or access to even sensitive government information) Just "leak" that Muller and the investigation also have a tap on his phones. That would at least stop a reasonable person, of course, reasonable isn't proven with this guy yet.
1
U.S. and Trump, you guys always over-estimate China. They don't know how to create the brains of computers and cell-phones and all the IC industries yet: CPU chips they need all bought from foreign companies, even those low-level chips are produced in China for they are owned by Taiwan Semi-Conductor Manufacturer which is independent from Chinese control ! Chinese manufacturers are only assemblers--that was why back in summer when Trump forbade any American companies to sell chips to ZTE, the major Chinese IC equipment manufacturer in summer, their CEO in China admitted frankly that they had to close down soon, their stock shares nose-diving. That's why Trump later did a flip-flop announcing conditions to allow them to buy from U.S. chips again, installing supervisors to the company. Most of Chinese just laughed away upon hearing U.S. being anxious about their ability to eavesdrop on U.S. and other advanced nations.
“Refrain” is not the word that comes to mind when I think of Trump...
1
If they think listening in on his personal calls will get them any insight to his thinking they don't know this president. If China does not want a trade war they know what to do. Pressure North Korea to give up their nukes, stop cheating, and buy american products. It is just that simple.
1
There has to be some sort of 'thinking' going on before one could 'gain insight' into said thinking.
And thinking ain't what this particular 'President' does very often.
3
I don't understand why you're not bothered by the main point of this story, why you skip right over to a discussion of the content of the eavesdropped intelligence as if this kind of breach were a normal everyday occurrence for any president. It's as if you're saying that a self-inflicted security vulnerability is okay as long as it's inflicted by Benedict Donald.
1
Oh for heavens’ sake.
I don’t believe for a moment that the Secret Service or other federal agencies or even his family couldn’t take the treasonous iPhone away from the treasonous Trump
That they don’t says alot about their own allegiances.
All for Trump and none for America
4
On this alone, he should be marched toward impeachment. Beyond reckless, it is unconscionable that he is allowed a phone at all. This man’s judgement is abysmal, running on instinct alone like an animal. Who knows what is being picked up? Is it an intentional choice based on some cooperative deal with these foreign powers or sheer stubbornness? Either way, he must be marched out.
5
This from the pious patriot who trumpeted that Hilary Clinton’s use of a private email server was tantamount to treason. And who today suddenly called for politics to be less demonizing and divisive - like the guy who walks into a bar, sucker-punches some unsuspecting patron, and then - when the guy gets up off the floor brandishing a broken beer bottle, suddenly finds barroom brawls unbecoming in a civilized society. Although why am I even bothering to call out the hypocrisy. Like some version of this hasn’t happened every day for the last 2 years.
8
Remember when Republicans erupted in fury because President Obama wore a tan suit to a briefing? If memory serves, conservative commentators were responding with such gems as "That's an impeachable offense right there".
How times change ...
6
A junior-level Foreign Service Officer would be fired for less.
6
Hopefully the NSA is listening to all his calls, too.
In fact, I hope his Dem. opponents have tapped in.
2
But when HRC is accused ( and still not charged in a court of law) of using private e-mail servers and jeopardizing national security, Trumpican loyalists say: "Jail her!"
2
"(the Google operating system is considered more vulnerable than Apple’s)" and the source is...?
2
Reporting on general consensus opinion doesn't need a source. The statement that ice cream sellers are thought to do better on hot summer days does not need a source.
1
Trump yet again demonstrating how little respect he has for the office he holds. No respect for it’s importance to global security, no attempt at affording the office the proper demeanor and decorum it has historically borne.....he is a cosmic, tragic joke. BUT, on a lighter note, I can’t imagine how painful this security breach is for the poor Chinese agents who must listen to the narcissistic and ill-informed blathering of Trump 24/7.
2
If President Trump is discussing classified information with uncleared individuals over unsecured lines - then, like what would happen to any cleated government employee or contractor, his access should be suspended and potentially revoked after an investigation. He could then no longer execute the duties of the Office of the Presidency and would have to be replaced.
3
Well, it's reassuring to know that Trump only has "one seldom used government cell phone" -- according to his morning tweet that was doubtless issued from one of the personal phones described in this article.
2
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Two state apparatus with almost unlimited resources are mining this breech for a lot more than just ways to play him.
4
Doesn't anyone realize it doesn't matter how secure Cheeto-jesus' phone is, but the real security problem is the far side phones, those of Steve Bannon, Sean Hannity, Pat Robertson, and all the other halfwits he talks to before bedtime for bonzo every night. If you only control one side of the conversation all the security in the world won't make a difference, even if he's sitting on an encrypted hard line phone in his office.
4
"White House officials say they can only hope he refrains from discussing classified information when he is on them."
We have a spoiled, petulant, tantrum-prone child in charge of the country. We can only hope he gets cut off at the knees on Nov 6.
4
He is an impulsive person. In addition, he does not feel threatened for some reason. He’ll get burned and then he’ll probably stop.
1
US intelligence services may soon be swamped by defecting foreign intelligence agents seeking lucrative book deals for the information that they've gathered.
4
The picture in the article - with Trump reading a piece of paper with his phone book open says it all. A nasty, fake look on his face (pretending to look intelligent but looking more like he is holding gas) and flags of military branches against the walls - military branches the draft-dodger never served with. Revolting but accurate portrayal of the fake President.
9
@David D
The picture is not candid. It's staged, like everything else in his life. He posed for it.
2
Does this mean that the FBI, CIA, and Robert Muller are listening too? I hope so.
7
Didn't he want to lock up hrc for this? What goes around should come back around.
3
Unless he WANTS the Chinese and Russians to know what he is up to.
What better way to communicate with Americas enemies, yet not arouse suspicion?
2
Whoever is tapping into the President's iPhones is hopefully taping him...otherwise, he'll deny he ever said "whatever", as usual...
6
The Russians already know what he is saying.
They told him what to say.
They are just checking the puppet is still on message.
Don't stress.
8
The hypocrisy of Mr. Lock Her Up using unsecured phones isn't even funny, and it should be criminal. The fact that his followers don't seem to care indicates they never really did care about national security when they chanted along. They were just going along with what their mob boss was inciting them to do.
5
Trump blabbed classified information to top Russians early in his Presidency. The guy blabs. While his own staff doesn't know when he's going to make a policy change or introduce legislation, as the tax cut for the middle class, eavesdroppers on his phone line probably hear it first. He's so into himself he doesn't know it or realize the implications of what he does. He probably didn't even understand the implications of Clinton using a private server. He is very unthinking.
7
Now Trump's defenders are reduced to saying - "it doesn't matter, he doesn't say anything of consequence anyway."
That's their guy. One moment he's the holder of all solutions to all problems the next he's inconsequential. Whatever rational is needed is that moment's talking point.
But here's the thing. Remember, Trump believes he is smarter than anyone and everyone. This very stable genius - knowing that he is being eavesdropped upon - will believe he can outsmart those who are listening so he will be very "clever" in what he says. Just like he was with Russians in the Oval Office.
10
Defend and protect the United States of America? Hardly.
3
Trump is your drunk uncle at Thanksgiving dinner. Full of opinions, and determined to do what he pleases. “I’ll do what I want, and no one better tell me what to do.”
The federal courts have stopped him in some cases, and the opinion of the people has sometimes forced him to act more soberly. But ultimately he’s our nation’s drunk uncle, and he’ll sit at the table till we decide to tell him to leave.
Time’s up, Benedict Donald.
14
If China and Russia can do it, so can Bob Mueller.
4
Pretty sure, after reading this, that I never want to hear him again ranting about Hillary’s private server. Lock him up!
18
The sheer hypocrisy of the GOP is NOT a surprise nor is the lack of concern about it shown by their voters--but do not make the mistake of saying again to me anything about Secretary Clinton's "e-mails". This is further evidence, as if it were needed that the GOP lied.
16
This definitely the behavior of a “very stable genius”!
3
So much for government secure emails when Trump can use his own personal iPhone whenever he wants and talk to whomever he wants!
Will the Republicans hold 6 hearings on this topic?
Maybe the Chinese and Russians will instead?
What hypocrisy! What a dangerous behavior for a President to engage him! But his White House admits he doesn't read or listen and know details about national security. But remember he revealed intelligence secrets to the Russian Ambassador in the Oval Office. Now apparently he can do the same on his cell phone if he can remember what they are. And he is formulating
American foreign policy and will handle national security crises?
9
Since Trump is a compulsive liar , maybe he is confusing the " enemy ."
Forget about the phone calls. Using the iPhone alone is the biggest liability.
One can reasonably assume that Russia/China/Israel/whoever have access to some iPhone 0-day vulnerabilities, despite the best efforts from Apple to secure the platform. This means that if Trumps carries the iPhone with him all the time, even his face to face conversations could be susceptible to eavesdropping.
3
And they’re cracking up.
5
Perhaps the Chinese or the Russians would be so kind as to publish transcripts of the calls so US citizens might have a better idea of what is really going on as is their constitutional right.
18
If only that would happen! Those countries are too smart and would not compromise such a good thing. First hand Intelligence from the American President. It doesn't get any better.
"Rusher, if you're listening..."
I have Trump lovers in my life. I tried to generate a conversation. What will you do if it is found your President Trump is guilty of treason and selling America out to foreign Nations? that he has pocketed Millions instead of helping America? It's all hypothetical, Trump lover, but what would you do? I know that Richard Nixon lovers, even his private Butler who was homosexually in love with Richard Nixon, and turned out to be the one the gave the FBI specific information that he recorded every conversation, did not believe Richard Nixon did any harm to USA. Decades later you talk to Kissinger and everyone else that surrounded Richard Nixon, they still say he did no harm to USA. On Bill Clinton, all his lovers say they made too much of it and it did not harm USA. Today, Trump lovers are acting just the same way. But at this time, there's a lot more Danger to each one of us and to all those in public service... I believe the GOP is working very hard to make sure they never leave any High office otherwise they'd have to be responsible and they are worried that the Dems would get away with just the same thing if they get into a higher office.
5
“Russia is not believed to be running as sophisticated an influence effort as China because of Mr. Trump’s apparent affinity for President Vladimir V. Putin, a former official said.”
“Affinity”? Try “subservience”
13
Traits I can attribute wholeheartedly to our President are laziness and slackfullness. Does it really surprise you that he does what he criticizes another for?
Behold how he values our national security when it affects him and is not campaign rhetoric.
5
I pity the spy who has to activate the screen-side camera.
1
How in the world can Trump continue to criticize Hilary Clinton for her past use of private email?
15
Someone has to tell Trump that his business secrets are at risk if he uses a non-secure phone.
13
Couldn't someone prove to Trump that it's unsafe by documenting a hacked phone call and showing harmless bits on Fox News?
4
So where is the technical proof of the vulnerabilities being exploited? I see nothing listed here.
If the problem is the cell system, that has nothing to do with the iPhone. That would be the cell companies like AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, etc. - not Apple.
If the problem is a sim card, it would be common to all cell phones and again, not a problem with iOS.
If the problem is with individual third party apps, please tell us which apps and what vulnerabilities are being exploited. As an iPhone owner, it would be good info to have.
@David Gregory
Please - all this is well known. Cellphone calls on any device are not encrypted, as is data not specifically encrypted.
4
@CitizenTM
Voice is not encrypted, but can be with apps. Any number of apps encrypt data. The DoD has used iOS devices on the battlefield and I assure you they are not "in the clear".
If the problem is generic to cell phones it is not an iPhone issue- it is a cell phone issue.
1
Is this what our national security and our future hang on- that we "can only hope" that Trump refrain from doing something stupid? Our future hangs on the whims of a adult-child?
10
Willfully sharing classified information is no longer a crime?
17
Perhaps the most telling sentence here is the one in which Mr. Wynns spokeperson said Wynn had no comment because he was "retired". Until now I had no idea that once you are retired your conversations with the president on an unsecured phone line no longer matter. Trumps department of Excuse, Obfuscation and Denial is now fully implemented.
Vote in November and take a step forward in erasing Trumpism.
15
I am sure the Russians and the Chinese view President Trump's stream of unconsciousness as perplexing as do most Americans. I doubt if his demeanor changes when he is on the phone.
3
the justice department needs to block his phones or Congress. Very simple. Why doesn't he call from a secure phone ? Can't they give him a secure iPhone? Just gold plate it . He will take it.
11
Since Trump continues his practice of using unsecured phones despite being warned that hostile powers are listening, he is therefore knowingly sharing information with those powers. A turncoat under the guise of an idiot? Possible treason?
17
“Lock Him Up!” “Lock Him Up!” Oh, the irony.
31
"Lock her up!" for Clinton using her private email server. How is this different?
"My highest priority as president of the United States is to keep America safe!" The man is a clown.
49
Short of impeachment, is there no way to stop this man? Take away his cellphones and order his staff not to let him use theirs? Remove his Twitter account? Watch him have a temper tantrum in the Oval Office?
20
Rex Tillerson was right.
58
Not to worry.
Trump lies about everything. What's the point in spying on Trump. Can't believe anything he says. Anytime. Any place.
7
Secretary of State Hilary Clinton uses unsecured server to send e-mails that may have been hacked by Russia and Trump Republicans say : Lock Her Up !
President Donald Trump uses unsecured iPhones to make phone calls that are definitely monitored by Russia and other foreign powers and the Trump Republicans say : "So what ! The Russians might have got valuable intelligence from Clinton's e-mails. Nobody heard any intelligence when talking to Trump ! "
15
President Trump should used The Lexicon Giuliani Dictionary instead of The Lexicon Webster Dictionary when he talks on his communication devices. The Chinese and the Russian will not have a clue of what President Trump is talking about
6
why would they spy, when he is talking to them, Kim, MBS, & all his new best friends in dictatorship countries? Of course, we can all hope that friend of people against trump are listening & recording his financial business dealings with putin, kim, MBS, Israel & will release the recordings before 2020.
The Donald: a special kind of clueless. But when you elect a cheesy reality show host to be president, you get what you pay for.
22
It’s on Us, Americans, that he is still in office. Beyond sorry state of affairs. Get out and vote!
14
But Hillary's private email server was a matter of national security? The hypocrisy is real. When does this country truly start holding this man child accountable? Peck's Bad Boy sits in the Oval Office and irony, winking at paradox, is apparently both alive and dead.
Sidebar: I see in another article here that all the stock market gains for the year are wiped out. While it is good rating's bait to show how Trump is using the Central American caravan to gin up his base, why isn't the biggest question in news right now, "Is This the End of the Trump Bump?"
17
If he were an employee of his own corporation, he would be fired.
21
Good luck to China and Russia in finding anything consistent in what he says!
10
@RSSF
Not the point. All they need is to find something they can leverage.
2
If so many intelligence agencies are listening, surely the press can find a way to get transcripts. Why not publish his prolific "private" rants so all Americans are more informed.
18
Nobody has claimed news agencies don’t have or won’t get transcripts of DJT asking friends what he should do.
1
How long will this president continue to intentionally disregard the advice of his own security advisors and ignorantly allow hackers and foreign agents to steal our data and most vital information about our democracy? Probably for a while, given the circumstances
6
A man who campaigned on being a slick operator- we just didn't know he meant literally and on an open party line.
4
It seems to me we have a President in name only. He seems to be a brainless, diva, pretending to be president. But because of his office, others around him have to prop him up...no matter his lunacy. (Tax cuts for the middle class while congress is out of session..yay!) When will America realize we don’t have a real president...just someone who is playing one for TV!
19
I know that this terribly serious business - but I can't help picturing nasty spies doubled over, laughing at the simpleton's naivete and bad spelling. I'm not sure this gives me much relief...
11
Trump proves daily and on every measure possible what an awful choice his voters made for POTUS.
9
I love that this article displays in the NYTimes app on my iPhone with a Chinese byline.
There’s something deliciously ironic about that, especially since we just learned about the spy chips that have been inserted onto the motherboards.
6
@David - "Chinese byline"
In the online version if you hover over the "Chinese byline" you will note that it is not a name but messages to click on to either "read in simplified Chinese" or "read in traditional Chinese".
So maybe not quite what you thought?
1
Why is this not considered treasonous behavior? To make available to foreign governments information that can be used against the US? It's no surprise, certainly to an American President, that foreign governments take advantage of any opportunity to expand their knowledge about our country. We do the same. Is the "protect and defend" part of the Presidential oath optional for 45th?
10
The only power we have as citizens is to order pizza, invite a few kids in from down the street, and see which one can hack that phone first.
8
Clearly, Trump believes that he and we are part of the Global Village; there are no secrets in a village.
3
Left unsaid: why are our essential cellular communications so insecure?
4
Checks and Balances are not working anymore.
8
bout whether Trump is talking about classified matters. He has already reported to Putin about them.
5
The only saving grace to Trump's disgraceful behavior, as reported, is that foreign agents have to sift through his incoherent word salad.
11
What this points out is that the Republicans' hysterical outrage about Hillary's email was a LIE. The Republicans were laughing behind their hands when they investigated her emails, just like they were laughing during their faux outrage over Obama's budget deficits.
Do Republicans actually believe in ANYTHING except power and money?
7
@Madeline Conant - "Do Republicans actually believe in ANYTHING except power and money?"
Demonstrably no.
I've been saying that what Trump has done is to strip the veneer off the Republicans and lay bare their true essence. We've learned that all these supposed sacred principles are nothing but window dressing, easily disposed of as soon as they no longer served their purpose: to get more power and more money.
Among Republicans there are only two guiding values:
1. Might makes right.
2. The end justifies the means.
All can be justified using these.
Next time a leader is elected who is deaf to national security yet amenable to despots, there must be proper congressional oversight. There must be an ethics body to police the tweets, monitor behaviour and rein in the rants. To have someone at the top who indulges in wanton crazy instincts unchecked is, for the rest of us, a scary, unsafe and uncivilised scenario. There are more checks on parking legally downtown than there are on a President’s psychotic rants and whatever deals he’s doing on his personal cellphone.
5
@Stuart
Candidates needed to be vetted with respect to whether they'll be eligible for the required security clearance BEFORE they are nominated. This means that those with questionable things in their past that might leave them at risk of being bribed or importuned by anyone, may not be a presidential nominee of any party. Secret sexual indiscretions that might come back to haunt; money problems, questionable loans and business practices; continuing drug or alcohol abuse: all should be disqualifying. This might also leave us with a little higher calibre, ethically speaking, of president. This doesn't mean that some youthful indiscretion would be a permanent bar, but that continuing violations or continuing untruthfulness about past indiscretions (Yes, we mean you, Bill Clinton and Bret Kavanaugh), must be much more seriously considered.
Russia, after you read this, please post the transcripts.
He’s working for Russia, not us. His GOP enablers in Congress are obviously in on it, otherwise they would have started impeachment proceedings by now.
12
"They said they had further confidence he was not spilling secrets because he rarely digs into the details of the intelligence he is shown and is not well versed in the operational specifics of military or covert activities."
What a line of defense, a President who doesn't know what's going on around him!
God I miss Obama.
22
I agree Trump should not be using an unsecure phone, and amused because any normal President should be quire insecure about using an off the shelf phone.
Yet, this article also smells of America protesting too much. America has the ability to listen to anyone's phone, and no less than German Chancellor Merkle was wire tapped by America.
2
Read the book Fear by Bob Woodward. Through interviews with people in the White House and those with knowledge of the Presidents actions, Trump is shown to be not able to tell the truth.
7
Enterprising hackers should just stream his calls live on the internet so we can get finally get moving on the 25th amendment.
12
Would be great to discuss more behaviors that empowered America rather than those that don’t.
Blackmail? Anyone say blackmail? Compromised, yes, degrading the office with each pally call among the hugely self regarding, but having more sway over the president than even now? That’s blackmail.
It is more likely than not the Russian government has blackmail material of a personal nature, as well as a good chance he owes individual Russian plutocrats large amounts. Learning details of legal strategies, as president Trump discussed with his payoffs lawyer, is gold to those who want to compromise our national interests. Voting has never mattered more.
6
Trump can't be held accountable for breaching the same security protocols as Clinton because he has about as much operational information about national security as I do: great, just great.
But it is great, because he is detached from the job so many of us wish he never had. Cohn swiped documents off Trump's desk to prevent information from getting into the wrong hands, however, from the look of Trump's desk in the picture, it appears, in Cohn's absence, the tabula rasa bandit has struck again...hopefully daily...in the form of his secretary.
Just when we think Trump is done for, his ignorance saves him.
5
We seem to have a President in name only. He doesn't do, or seem to even WANT to do, any of the necessary self-education required of a President. Instead of relying on his own intelligence agencies, he will rely on the information coming from Fox News or friends, to inform his opinion. So of course he defies the Secret Service and uses an unsecured phone. My question is, at what point do we say to our very own President...You are a risk to National Security, and are a danger to the American people? If he were anyone else, he would be charged with mis-handling secret materials. And while he may have the authority to declassify information...at what point is he deemed a national security threat himself?
5
@LK Trump seems basically to be President because he planned all along to loot the public corporation as he has been doing with IRS fraud, duplicity in renting apartments and making a profit while reporting a net loss. Discriminating against minorities while receiving public funds, conducting business while President. Nepotism, Demanding executions for innocent minority males illegally charged with crimes. Bragging about the value of violence against the press one day and the next day saying that he abhors violence. Supporting the Saud family no matter how many atrocities they commit. And so much more.
So Trump is not a security risk because he doesn't even know the content or details of the classified presidential daily brief? How is that supposed to make me feel better, that he's just too lazy to even keep himself minimally informed?
6
He just doesn’t care. Hillary was rightly criticized for using an unsafe server to store sensitive emails and Trump wanted her locked up. What’s sauce for the goose is gravy for the gander. Right?
2
Almost certanly, this will not be a big issue and will have little impact oin the coming the elections. And we can see clearly that Hillary Clinon was disliked by many only because she was a woman -an intelligent one, especially-, and her "private email" issue was used as an excuse to attack her.
Does he actually know what's classified and what's not? Does he care? Does he in fact care about anything—anything—other than his own enrichment? I see no reason to believe other than the answers to all three are negative.
8
I'm guessing China's best phycologists are listening in, surely Kelly can just confiscate the phone and replace it with a secure device?
1
We were assured Hillary's secret server was not hacked into.."no intelligence damage what so ever happened, nothing to see here"..
Now with Trump the same voices express concern?
Wouldn't be surprised if Trump is laying false scent trails for the listeners....he's done it repeatedly with the US media confounding them with great success.
1
We keep expecting better from this man- but every day there is an action; an utterance proving not only will he not get (and be) better; he has neither the inclination nor capacity.
I hear about this latest episode and then see pictures of fellow Americans functioning in a frenzied state of almost ecstasy over this man. These are the non-thinkers who cannot connect the proverbial dots between what this man does and how it imperils the American they claim to love:
This man terrifies me and so do they.
5
If a story like this came out about Obama, Republicans would have launched an investigation quickly followed up with articles of impeachment. If Congress would aggressively assert their power, this type of behavior would stop immediately. I for one am going to use my vote to best make sure that Congress will not be supine while the president voluntarily compromises his security and shows contempt for the nation's interests. Some "nationalist" he is.....
3
Maybe such transparency will keep China well advised about how harmless is the real estate salesman playing apprentice president—as long as dangerous orders are ignored. This may prevent escalation of trade warring; and, with Russia, no short-range nuclear weapons preparations.
Perhaps, we all just have to get through this infelicitous period of living with a golf club king who is winging it (as he never really wanted to BE president; he just liked the show).
1
Whoopie! Defying the collective expertise of U.S. diplomats with decades' worth of experience and institutional government knowledge, U.S. China policy is now in the hands of Stephen A. Schwarzman--who claims among many titles to be a member of the International Advisory Board of the Russian Direct Investment Fund--and Steve Wynn, no less the former Las Vegas casino magnate who had to step down from his empire due to his sexual harassment and assault of employees.
1
Unfortunately this ever too important story that is so much more consequential to our country than Hillary’s email scandal will be yet another story that gets lost in Trumps 24/7 news cycle.
4
If Chinese and Russian spies have indeed intercepted Trump conversations verbatim then could it be that they might be sitting on a treasure trove of potentially incriminating information that Mueller wishes he had?
2
Regardless of anything else, why can’t the greatest technological powerhouse in the world provide secure communications to the president, in the desired form?
1
On the plus side, future historians will have a rich trove of material to sort through -- provided the future Chinese government is willing to share their voluminous "Trump archive" with scholars.
1
Let's sum up what they have learned: the best way to work with the current President is to give him what his voters want. A fair deal for our country.
Is it really possible that Mr. Trump is this oblivious (or unconcerned)? It is indeed and it is scary.
But what scares me even more is that maybe he isn't as oblivious as he seems and he is doing it on purpose, i.e he is in cahoots with our enemies in a grander plot to obtain power than any of us can imagine.
We can only hope that it is the former and that members of Congress - and the voters who elect them - will remove him from office before it is too late.
Someone should ask Trump whar a cell phone tower is, and how his tweets get to it. And also ask him what a server is, and how email gets to it from a desktop computer.
2
Fifteen or so years ago, I was a low level manager for a company that did business with Raytheon, a defense contractor for the US government and I was not allowed to bring my cellphone into any Raytheon facility. Yet the President of the United States is using an unsecured phone? I cannot comprehend ANY of this.
8
@Lin D.
Our constitution, if exploited by nefarious forces, invests the Presidency with power, privileges and protections that no other elected official or private citizen ever can hope to have. It was created in the 18th Century, the time when the invention of steam engines and mechanical cotton spinning devices was quite the rage and we consisted of 13 States. And it was written under the believe, that whoever would become President had the best interest of the Nation in mind. It was never meant for the H.L. Mencken envisioned self-dealing, populist moron we have now and no doubt will have again in the future, unless people radically wake up.
1
What I come away with from reading this report is that Trump is breaking security protocols that have been established by the best minds of our intelligence agencies. None of his predecesors were allowed such privileges. Why should he?
8
The material for Congressional investigations of this administration is mind blowing. Unfortunately we will get nothing done as next year's house begins either 2 years or 6 years of intensive investigations into the amateur's in this administration. And unlike the Republicans years of fruitless investigations we will see a number of indictments, convictions and resignations.
This is a job for Representative Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) and the House Oversight Committee. After the years of investigating Secretary of State Clinton’s use of a private email server and the attendant security risks, Gowdy and his Committee are fully aware of the dangers of the use of a private iPhone for communication by the President.
Gowdy is leaving Congress but has time to start an investigation of Trump’s actions with the use of his private iPhone and the damage it did to nation security.
4
This is not important unless classified information is being discussed and there are no facts to support that. It is less important than HRC putting classified emails on unsecure servers.
@2observe2
How do you know? Our federal sworn to the constitution agents are all lying?
2
Actually it is very important. This kind of misuse of a cellphone by Trump would be considered gold by any hostile intelligence service. And although the NYT piece discusses the Russian and Chinese threat, it should also be made clear that there are also allied services who might take advantage of this kind of misuse. Every call Trump makes to one of his buddies is a name (and number) which can then be added to a targeting list which puts these people at risk. Also keep in mind that the people Trump is calling could unknowingly be providing information regarding their OWN vulnerabilities. It isn’t all one-way. Additionally, Trump is giving these hostile intelligence services singular information about his own current state of mind which can easily be discerned through tone of voice, etc. And if anyone believes this in turn isn’t being provided to any psychologists who may be working for the FSB or the Chinese Service they’d only be kidding themselves. He may not be discussing classified information over his cell but what he IS doing is almost as bad.
3
So the president considers national security an inconvenience. Every citizen should be alarmed at this. And why is he discussing government affairs with friends? If we had a real Congress, they would do something about this.
3
Imagine if the Chinese and the Russian would want to write an expose on Trump. It'd be an instant best seller.
Why? Bet many Americans still don't understand words like 'bigly'. Finally, there may be an official definitive meaning of 'covfefe'!
Simon & Schuster, are you listening?
Obviously, he wants the Russians to listen in on his calls. How else to explain this?
18
Whenever we have a Congress again that has come to its senses, the powers of the Presidency to do as s/he pleases, rather than as directed by the voters and in protection of our nation, need to be curtailed.
Candidates with active businesses need to be automatically disqualified from running. A vague promise to give up business or transfer control of it is nit good enough.
38
Trump admires dictators and owes Russia big time for handing him the election. Maybe he WANTS Russia and China to hear his so-called private phone calls.
30
While the Russians and Chinese may not get high level intelligence from Trump [double meaning intended] if Trump is talking to buddies like Wynn Russia and China surely are accumulating kompromat
30
Oh great. Administration officials aren't too worried about Trump using a unsecure phone because he doesn't dig into details and isn't well versed in operational specifics. In other words, they're not worried about Trump's calls because he doesn't know what he's talking about. Somehow, that doesn't make me confident in this president.
137
@Linda
For some of us we felt that lack of confidence on 11/09/16.
This should be a massive story given the media attention paid to Hillary's email server. But it won't.
I presume the author means private rather than unsecured. Re: "...use of an unsecured email server..."
Pray tell, how is this different from Hillary’s personal emails?
121
No credible evidence points to the emails having had classified information or that foreign countries obtained information they used to get an advantage, contemporaneously or otherwise, over us. On the other hand, this article is saying China, in negotiations with us, is getting information to use over us. Would you want your spouse who is in alimony negotiations with you listening to your phone calls with your buddies?
4
@mancuroc It’s not, except that Hillary didn’t leak classified information. We don’t know that about Trump. An investigation is needed.
2
Hillary’s emails were secure BECAUSE she wasn’t using a government server, and deep down
the GOP knows this and wasted all that money to save face. Which they didn’t.
2
We have a dope for president.
141
I'm guessing we won't hear a peep about this from Republicans outraged at HRC's private email server.
49
Isn't it ironic, and filled with hypocrisy, that Trump is doing exactly what Hyllary did, using a personal cell phone, susceptible to other parties, perhaps the 'enemy', listening? Shouldn't he change the harangue at his base of 'lock her up' to 'lock him up'? Trump is a devious charlatan, whose willful ignorance is malevolent, no matter which way you look at it. In other words, an abomination.
28
Trump is awfully careless and cavalier about his personal phone use. The POTUS interacts with a lot of very important information that needs to be protected. If Trump doesn’t care about security the safety of our country and others could be seriously jeopardized. This is an embarassing and dangerous situation and needs to be remedied some how.
22
Proof once again that trump is an imminent threat to national security. At the end of the day the only ones with any real power to remove him are the voters. That process starts on November 6, 13 ways away.
38
Rest assured Trump says he knows more than His generals so we’re in great hands! I’ve only seen a desk that clean once and it belonged to an intern on his first day on the job, coincidence?
12
Trump doesn't care - he's president and no one else is. Perhaps Hillary could have stated the same about her e-mail server during the GOP inquisition - she's Secretary of State and they aren't. I'm sure that would go over well with Mr. Gowdy and Jordan and the rest of the brotherhood.
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But what makes you think that he is any more truthful
over an insecure phone than he is in front of a crowd or
a tv camera? If I were a Chinese or other eavesdropper, say
the 400 lb x gen malcontent?, I would really have no clue as to whether I'm hearing something true or something false. Plus, I would not even be sure that I've been set up to listen to
the same gibberish everyone else is forced to listen to, if for
no other reason that the guy loves an audience.
So I extend my sympathies to the overly curious eavesdroppers everywhere you may be. Now you know
how we feel. On the other hand, if you ever get any
good clues about where his tax returns are, could
you please let us know??
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Again and again, it is shock to my patriotic soul to hear yet more proof that Trump is not only wholly unfit to be president, he is a risk to our national security. He doesn't care to understand military strategy, he has contempt for expertise and respects no one and nothing that doesn't serve his particular need of the moment. 'Love of country' is clearly an empty throw-away line for Trump and his enablers.
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Trump's old school rules as head business honcho: Rule no. 1. The boss is always always right.
Rule no. 2. If you think the boss is wrong, refer to rule no. 1.
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Maybe it's all purposeful! He's found a way to communicate with the Russians and Chinese without any need to acknowledge it.
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I think you're giving him way too much credit.
3
Many in the real world would be fired for violating their companies cybersecurity and confidentiality provisions. When will this guy be held accountable to standard practices?
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The President of the United States' job is to keep us safe. He can't keep us safe by selfishly using an unsecured phone.
I could just scream and scream and scream. Maybe then I'd wake up from this nightmare.
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No worries. He encrypts what he says - much like the Navajo Code Talkers in WW2. Trumpers understand him perfectly. Most everyone else scratches their heads for a minute or two. People don't know that. It's true.
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I could only tolerate reading a few of these comments and just had to STOP...are we all missing the point? Why aren't each and every one of you not demanding accountability from MITCH MCCONNELL and PAUL RYAN? And in the meantime, they are turning our country into a Banana Republic!
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@Astrid
Remember that Rome went down because he coopted the Senate. Those leaders had a chance to stop Julius Caesar from crossing the Rubicon and didn't. Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan talked a good game about fiscal austerity, but at the end of the day they were simply delivering payouts to rich donors, in the form of lower taxes. As long as we've got this kind of "commission" set up in Congress, we can expect more of the same, especially with Republicans acting as agents for rich people like Betsy DeVos.
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Because we all know they'll do nothing. Zero. Zilch.
1
What are they going to learn, that he’s a stable genius?
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Along with his inmate gullibility, this is another way that Trump allows foreign powers to manipulate him so easily.
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Have we not learned that sadly no one can tell Trump what to do?
As a country we all know the man is unhinged but who among us really calls him out on this with the force he can muster ?
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Wouldn't that be the job of Congress?
2
Where to begin?
If Trump discussed classified information on an unsecured phone, does that constitute treason?
Are we really to believe that he doesn't understand enough intelligence to be able to give away classified secrets?
Should we be relieved that his ramblings are probably as incoherent to the Chinese as they are to most Americans?
Should we consider ourselves lucky that Trump doesn't know how to use email and can thus avoid inadvertently downloading malware onto his phone? Of course, who needs malware when you can just eavesdrop at any convenient cell tower?
And isn't anyone concerned that Trump feels a need to make calls that his aides - let alone the public - don't know about?
I mean, seriously folks. These scenarios make TV shows like Veep and House of Cards look non-fictional.
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Why does President Trump behave like he is a law unto himself? When is he going to realize that he is no longer the CEO of a privately-held company? Why is he deliberately jeopardizing the security of the United States by using an unsecure iPhone? Why isn’t the White House Communications Agency tethering his personal iPhone to the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network? Or better yet, why don't they just take it away – you don’t get to be president under your own rules.
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But Trump can get away with doing exactly that.
He doesn't read security notes or attend the morning briefings or listen to anybody within earshot.
So, what do the eavesdroppers do?
Realize he's clueless and laugh?
8
People here keep talking about trump giving away secrets---possibly a problem if he knew any. The larger problem is that the people trump is calling are being primed with foreign goals so that they influence HIM/trump because they know trump will listen to his cronies telling him what to do. GAH is there ONE good thing about the trump admin????? i don't know of one
9
That he should even have an unsecured phone in his presence whether in apparent use or not is a severe breach of security. A security detail should remove them. Period.
And how ironic that a dispute about data security helped put this ignoramus in the White House in the first place.
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