---
title: "The Chinese Are Reportedly Intercepting Trump’s Cell Phone Calls"
date: "2018-10-25"
modified: "2018-10-25"
authors:
  - name: "Paul Szoldra"
    job_title: "Editor"
    link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/paul-szoldra/"
url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/china-cell-phone-intercepts/"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "donald trump"
---

# The Chinese Are Reportedly Intercepting Trump’s Cell Phone Calls

![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/18990865-3.jpg>)

Chinese spies are eavesdropping on President Donald Trump's cell phone calls with friends and using what they learn to try and sway him on the escalating trade war, [according to a new report](<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/24/us/politics/trump-phone-security.html?action=click&module=Top%2520Stories&pgtype=Homepage>) in The New York Times.

- Several current and former U.S. officials told The Times that the president has refused to give up on using an iPhone, although he has taken to using secure landlines more amid pressure from security professionals.
- The president was convinced to give up his Android phone when he entered government. Still, he now has three iPhones — two that were modified and secured by the NSA, and one that is a normal iPhone like any other, which he keeps and uses because he can store contacts in it, The Times reported.
- That third phone is the problem, since the interception of cell phone calls is fairly routine for governments, including the U.S. Documents released by ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden, for example, showed that attempting to listen in on world leaders' calls was a normal practice by spy agencies.
- According to The Times, the revelation that China (and to some extent, Russia) was eavesdropping on Trump's calls came from human sources inside those governments.
- The White House did not respond to a request for comment from Task & Purpose.
- Trump, for his part, criticized the Times article in a tweet, calling it "soooo wrong!"

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1055412328571850753

- The Chinese, meanwhile, were offering this troll in response:

https://twitter.com/annafifield/status/1055370640977317888

![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/image-placeholder-title-1106.png>)

## Author
Paul Szoldra was the Editor in Chief of Task & Purpose from October 2018 until August 2022. Since joining T&P, he has led a talented team of writers, editors, and creators who produce military journalism reaching millions of readers each month. He also founded and edits [Duffel Blog](<https://www.duffelblog.com/>), a popular satirical newsletter for the military. Before becoming a journalist in 2013, he served as a Marine infantryman in Afghanistan, Korea, and other areas of the Pacific. His eyes still go up every time a helicopter from Camp Pendleton flies over his office in Southern California.

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