White House Investigates Trump Chief of Staff's Phone Hack

White House Investigates Potential Phone Hack Targeting Chief of Staff

An investigation is underway at the White House following reports that contacts from the personal phone of chief of staff Susie Wiles were accessed without authorization.

It is alleged that this information was then utilized to contact other high-ranking officials and to impersonate Ms. Wiles.

Details of the Reported Incident

Susie Wiles is reported to have informed colleagues that her phone had been compromised. Initial reports regarding the breach surfaced in The Wall Street Journal and were subsequently confirmed by CBS News.

The unauthorized access reportedly extended to a comprehensive list of Ms. Wiles’ phone contacts. This included the personal phone numbers of numerous prominent U.S. officials and individuals of influence.

According to the Wall Street Journal, some individuals on the contact list received phone calls where the caller fraudulently represented themselves as Ms. Wiles. Artificial intelligence was reportedly employed to mimic her voice.

Furthermore, text messages were sent from a phone number not officially linked to Ms. Wiles.

White House Response and Ongoing Investigation

When questioned by TechCrunch, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly refrained from confirming whether a cloud account associated with Ms. Wiles’ device had been compromised.

She also did not disclose if the incident was determined to be a sophisticated cyberattack, potentially involving the use of government-level spyware.

The White House has stated that it “takes the cybersecurity of all staff very seriously, and this matter continues to be investigated.”

Previous Cybersecurity Concerns

This is not the first instance of Ms. Wiles being targeted by malicious actors. In 2024, The Washington Post reported attempted hacking of her personal email account by Iranian hackers.

The Journal reported on Friday, citing sources, that these attempts were successful, resulting in the acquisition of a dossier concerning [Vice President] JD Vance, who was then a potential running mate.

This latest incident adds to a series of cybersecurity challenges faced by the Trump administration since it took office.

Recent Cybersecurity Breaches

In March, a former national security advisor, Michael Waltz, inadvertently included a journalist in a Signal group containing top White House officials, including Vance and Wiles.

Discussions regarding a planned military air-strike in Yemen were shared within this group.

It was later revealed that the officials were utilizing a Signal clone application called TeleMessage, designed to archive messages for governmental purposes.

TeleMessage was subsequently subjected to at least two hacking incidents, leading to the exposure of private message content from its users.