President of the United States of America Donald Trump has reportedly raised a new security concern by asking world leaders to get in touch with him directly on his personal cell phone number. According to reports, Trump has urged leaders of Canada and Mexico to call him on his cellphone. Former and current US officials reportedly said that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has in fact spoken to Trump directly on his cellphone.
Trump has also exchanged numbers with the newly-elected French President, Emmanuel Macron, when the two spoke immediately following Macron’s victory earlier this month, according to a French official. The French official, as per an Associated Press report, did not comment on whether Macron intended to use the line.
Trump, who had been an easily accessible person, could be reached on his cellphone directly before he became the US President. However, it seems he is finding it difficult to follow the protocols and disciplines of teh President, putting security in a spot.
“If you are speaking on an open line, then it’s an open line, meaning those who have the ability to monitor those conversations are doing so,” said Derek Chollet, a former Pentagon adviser and National Security Council official now at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, as quoted by AP. A president “doesn’t carry with him a secure phone,” Chollet said. “If someone is trying to spy on you, then everything you’re saying, you have to presume that others are listening to
Trump has been in a tight spot when it comes to keeping his conversations with world leaders private. Earlier, his conversations with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Russian diplomats were all leaked after notes of the conversations were circulated by national security officials.
According to the report, The Presidential Records Act of 1981, passed in response to the Watergate scandal, requires that the president and his staff preserve all records related to the office. In 2014, the act was amended to include personal emails.
While only Trudeau has been the one calling Trump directly on his turnball, it remains to be seen how the new ‘call me on my cellphone’ drill works for Donald Trump as more world leaders are given his cellphone number.