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When Trump Phones Friends, the Chinese and the Russians Listen and Learn

nytimes.com

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Re: When Trump Phones Friends, the Chinese and the Russians Listen and Learn

#21

Post by smt88 »

gumby wrote: post #9

Similarly to how agreed-upon overflights increase security (as your opponent knows you're not preparing an attack and/or are keeping to treaty obligations) one could consider this a good thing. Of course China is not currently a military threat to the US, at least at the level deserving attention of a US president (e.g. random encounters in the Spratleys are jostling, not escalation). I certainly don't think this is…

China isn't a military threat, but Russia has proved that military power isn't necessary to sow chaos and destabilize the US. You don't even need military-grade hackers.

Re: When Trump Phones Friends, the Chinese and the Russians Listen and Learn

#22

Post by tomohawk »

craftyguy wrote: post #2

> Mr. Trump’s aides have repeatedly warned him that his cellphone calls are not secure, and they have told him that Russian spies are routinely eavesdropping on the calls, as well. But aides say the voluble president, who has been pressured into using his secure White House landline more often these days, has still refused to give up his iPhones. How is blatant disregard for communication security not an impeachable…

The president can declassify anything he wants to, merely by speaking it to someone else. He's the only person in or out of the government who can do this. So, not impeachable. Impeachable would be when the former Secretary of State did not exercise care when handling classified information. The relevant statute does not require intent - only lack of care.

It is interesting that all the push back by governments to keep phones from being secure has resulted in no phones being available that are secure - at least not any that people want to use.

Re: When Trump Phones Friends, the Chinese and the Russians Listen and Learn

#23

Post by craftyguy »

tomohawk wrote: post #22
craftyguy wrote: post #2

> Mr. Trump’s aides have repeatedly warned him that his cellphone calls are not secure, and they have told him that Russian spies are routinely eavesdropping on the calls, as well. But aides say the voluble president, who has been pressured into using his secure White House landline more often these days, has still refused to give up his iPhones. How is blatant disregard for communication security not an impeachable…

The president can declassify anything he wants to, merely by speaking it to someone else. He's the only person in or out of the government who can do this. So, not impeachable. Impeachable would be when the former Secretary of State did not exercise care when handling classified information. The relevant statute does not require intent - only lack of care. It is interesting that all the push back by governments to ke…

Interesting. So does the president have a free ticket to declassify anything, even if it puts the nation at risk (e.g. during a time of war)? For example, if trump posted the location of a surprise invasion force on twitter, can the rest of the government just "lol, trump on twitter again" and move on?

Re: When Trump Phones Friends, the Chinese and the Russians Listen and Learn

#25

Post by fit2rule »

gumby wrote: post #9

Similarly to how agreed-upon overflights increase security (as your opponent knows you're not preparing an attack and/or are keeping to treaty obligations) one could consider this a good thing. Of course China is not currently a military threat to the US, at least at the level deserving attention of a US president (e.g. random encounters in the Spratleys are jostling, not escalation). I certainly don't think this is…

The problem is that American interests have extended beyond the limits of the American borders for too long - China exercising its rights to protect its own interests outside its borders is a response to that, which automatically triggers American hubris: "nobody, but the 'greatest nation on Earth', should have the right to say its interests extend beyond its borders" .. this is the point of American hegemony in the world. If America doesn't do it, someone else will - so eventually, America becomes the very threat it was resisting all along: a totalitarian state which uses its military might to usurp the interests of other nations, at any and all cost.

Re: When Trump Phones Friends, the Chinese and the Russians Listen and Learn

#26

Post by downandout »

It is relatively trivial to identify the friends of a famous person, such as any sitting President of the United States. Since the government doesn't go around paying for secure lines for all friends of all Presidents, it seems likely that all calls from all Presidents to all of their friends throughout modern history were subject to eavesdropping. This isn't a "Trump is an idiot" issue, as the article strives so diligently to imply. All Presidents have had this issue when speaking to friends who don't have secure lines at government expense.

Re: When Trump Phones Friends, the Chinese and the Russians Listen and Learn

#27

Post by komali2 »

gumby wrote: post #9

Similarly to how agreed-upon overflights increase security (as your opponent knows you're not preparing an attack and/or are keeping to treaty obligations) one could consider this a good thing. Of course China is not currently a military threat to the US, at least at the level deserving attention of a US president (e.g. random encounters in the Spratleys are jostling, not escalation). I certainly don't think this is…

In surprised to hear someone say China is not a military threat to the United States. Can you expound on this?

For example, I believe China could easily organize and fund far more terrorist attacks than, say, bin laden ever did. Furthermore, their terrorist attacks could much more easily utilize nuclear material.

Re: When Trump Phones Friends, the Chinese and the Russians Listen and Learn

#28

Post by akhilcacharya »

tomohawk wrote: post #22
craftyguy wrote: post #2

> Mr. Trump’s aides have repeatedly warned him that his cellphone calls are not secure, and they have told him that Russian spies are routinely eavesdropping on the calls, as well. But aides say the voluble president, who has been pressured into using his secure White House landline more often these days, has still refused to give up his iPhones. How is blatant disregard for communication security not an impeachable…

The president can declassify anything he wants to, merely by speaking it to someone else. He's the only person in or out of the government who can do this. So, not impeachable. Impeachable would be when the former Secretary of State did not exercise care when handling classified information. The relevant statute does not require intent - only lack of care. It is interesting that all the push back by governments to ke…

>Impeachable would be when the former Secretary of State did not exercise care when handling classified information

Its remarkable that some people are still keeping up this charade, 3.5 years after it was revealed and 2 years after it was put to rest. C'mon, man. It's intellectual dishonesty.

Apparently we judge a former SoS by the rules of cricket and the President by the rules of Calvinball.

Re: When Trump Phones Friends, the Chinese and the Russians Listen and Learn

#29

Post by brohoolio »

It’s amazing that I know all this. Like that the president has multiple iphones, he likes to call multiple friends, that foreign governments listen in.

If this was Hillary the republicans would impeach her right away for endangering the country. They should do the same to Trump.

Re: When Trump Phones Friends, the Chinese and the Russians Listen and Learn

#30

Post by jacobsheehy »

Nrbelex wrote: post #7

>Officials said the president has two official iPhones that have been altered by the National Security Agency to limit their capabilities — and vulnerabilities — and a third personal phone that is no different from hundreds of millions of iPhones in use around the world. Mr. Trump keeps the personal phone, White House officials said, because unlike his other two phones, he can store his contacts in it. If this is tru…

> If this is truly the root cause of the issue, it should be relatively simple to rectify.

I think it's pretty clear, with the most charitable possible reading of this article and your comment, that the root cause is not an issue with contacts on his phone.

The root cause is quite clearly a complete lack of respect that Trump has for the American people: He does. not. care. about the country's security or anybody in it.

The root cause isn't some stupid argument about contacts in his phone. The root causes are arrogance [1], hate towards American people [2], and corrupted power [3]. I'll cite these.

[1] He says he is the smartest person in the world and does not need to confer with experts about anything. Why would he need a secure phone then?

[2] He has directly insulted American citizens who care about the national security risks he poses. He uses terrorist-like language to describe Americans. He doesn't care about his phone being hacked.

[3] He acts like he thinks he is King. He acts like there are no rules for him, and the Republican Congress makes that fact true - for now.

This has nothing to do with technology and the solution doesn't have anything to do with technology either.

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