White House Investigates Hacking of Trump Chief of Staff's Phone

The White House is currently investigating a hacking incident involving the personal phone of Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. According to reports from The Wall Street Journal and CBS News, unknown individuals gained access to her phone's contacts and used the information to reach out to other high-ranking U.S. officials, impersonating her. The hackers reportedly contacted individuals listed in Wiles' address book, including top officials and influential figures. Some of these contacts received calls that used AI to mimic her voice, and others received texts from an unknown number claiming to be from Wiles. When TechCrunch inquired about the nature of the breach, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly declined to disclose whether a cloud account linked to Wiles' device was compromised or if the phone was targeted by advanced cyberattacks, such as those involving government-grade spyware. The White House emphasized its commitment to the cybersecurity of its staff, stating that the investigation is ongoing. This is not the first time Wiles has faced such a breach. In 2024, The Washington Post reported that Iranian hackers had attempted to compromise her personal email account. It was later confirmed, according to sources cited by The Wall Street Journal, that these hackers successfully broke into her email and obtained a dossier on then-Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance, who was Trump's running mate at the time. The recent incident adds to a series of cybersecurity challenges the Trump administration has encountered since taking office. In March, a significant breach occurred when Michael Waltz, the former top national security adviser, accidentally added a journalist to a Signal group chat. This group, which included both Wiles and Vance, discussed a planned military airstrike in Yemen. Further investigations revealed that the officials were using a cloned version of Signal called TeleMessage, designed to store message copies for government archiving. TeleMessage itself was hacked at least twice, leading to the exposure of sensitive private communications. These breaches highlight the ongoing vulnerabilities in the cybersecurity measures of the administration and underscore the critical importance of safeguarding official and personal communication channels in high-stakes political environments. As the investigation into the Wiles hack continues, the White House must address these issues to prevent further compromises and maintain the integrity of its operations.