Andy Burnham, the UK's prime minister, exchanged messages with a person posing as Donald Trump's chief of staff. The prime minister sent messages to an individual impersonating Susie Wiles, widely regarded as the most influential woman in the White House.
The incident – first reported by Politico – raised enough alarm at the British Embassy that officials raised concerns with their counterparts at the White House. Sources at Downing Street acknowledged that Burnham had been in contact with the impersonator but claimed the messages were not of significance.
Nevertheless, the exchange has raised national security concerns. British officials were reportedly worried that Wiles's phone had been hacked again, after an impersonator allegedly sent text messages and called her contacts in May 2025 to solicit financial and presidential pardons.
Keir Starmer resigned four days after the election to make way for his successor, who ran for the Labour leadership unopposed. Last year, US intelligence agencies warned of "an ongoing malicious text and voice messaging campaign" in which actors impersonated senior American officials to manipulate targets.
US authorities had previously blamed hackers acting on behalf of Iran during the final months of Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. Cybersecurity has been a persistent concern at the White House – one hacker managed to breach the communications service used by Mike Waltzin April 2025. They intercepted messages from a range of American officials, while the White House also acknowledged that Salt Typhoon had targeted and recorded calls of "top" American figures.
