New Delhi: UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham exchanged messages with someone impersonating Susie Wiles, chief of staff to US President Donald Trump. The exchange was first reported by Politico, citing four anonymous officials, and has since been confirmed.
The messages began before Burnham became prime minister, and continued after he took office on 20 July. He grew suspicious partway through and stopped replying. The contact never went beyond text messages. There was no phone call or video conversation.
People briefed on the matter said nothing significant was conveyed. Once the exchange looked suspicious, it was reported to the relevant authorities.
Downing Street would not go into detail. When approached by the BBC, a government spokesperson said, “We do not comment on national security matters.”
The bigger worry inside the British government is that Wiles may have been hacked again. The UK embassy in Washington has raised the matter with the White House. Whether this incident is connected to that earlier breach last year is still unknown.
The last time, unknown individuals gained access to contacts stored on Wiles’ personal phone. They used the contacts to message senior US officials while posing as her. Senators, governors, and business executives were among those contacted. The FBI opened an investigation. At the time, a White House spokesperson said the administration was taking the matter seriously.
Burnham took office in July and is yet to meet Trump in person, though the two have spoken over the phone.
Posers and politicians
In a similar episode in 2024, David Cameron, then UK foreign secretary, exchanged texts with someone posing as former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. A hoax video call had already convinced him the contact was genuine. The Foreign Office later said it disclosed the incident publicly because it feared the exchange could be manipulated.
A different pair of British ministers ran into a similar problem in 2022. Ben Wallace and Priti Patel both received calls from someone posing as Denys Shmyhal, then Ukrainian prime minister. Wallace, for his part, blamed Russian interference.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)
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