President Donald Trump’s constant use of his cell phone has been a constant source of tweets and also inspiration for comics since he began his run for the White House two years ago. Yesterday’s revelations by #Wikileaks about the CIA’s cyber warfare capabilities have given us much to ponder, beginning with the price of his insistence, so far, not to change his habits.
Oval Office and tweets
The United States and the world have become used to the regular outpouring of tweets from Donald Trump from politics to television programmes, or any matter that may come to his attention as he watches television.
These activities have provided material for satire and serious articles as comics and journalists analyze and comment on the latest tweet released at the oddest hours of the morning.
As of yesterday this should all change.
President Trump’s old style cell phone had already been the subject of controversy as it was not secured and may be subject to hacking by unfriendly forces. The Guardian was not the only newspaper to raise the issue and a simple online search using the words “Trump, phone and hacking” will provide a wealth of articles on the subject.
The details of the cyber warfare weapons available to the CIA are proof that the President’s phone does indeed provide a potential source for the leaks that have plagues the Oval Office since the Inauguration.
Argument
At the same time it would be naive to think that only the CIA has access to such capabilities. The simple fact that on the weekend CNN showed a film clip of a heated argument between the President and his Chief Strategist Steve Bannon provides proof that it is not so difficult for a determined person to have access to areas that are supposedly secured.
In the same fashion it now also puts into another light the search for the leakers by Senior Press Officer Sean Spicer who checked the phones of his staff to ensure that they had not purposely leaked embarrassing information to the Press. This news was leaked virtually in real time and it is now not in the realms of impossibility that the leaks came from unsecure devices rather than deliberate actions by White House staff.
No doubt these issues are already being discussed in the Oval Office and just as surely measures will soon be taken to ensure that the devises within the sacred precincts will all be secure and possibly banned from particularly delicate discussions and negotiations. But the revelations also point the spotlight on the White House for another reason.
Friend or foe?
During the presidential campaign then candidate Donald Trump praised Wikileaks for its release of information damaging to Hillary Clinton at delicate moments in the campaign. Even at the time these leaks were considered with suspicion by many and were suspected of being orchestrated by Moscow. These then became part of the allegations of Russian interference in the election that has caused much disruption to the new Administration.
Yesterday’s revelations now put Wikileaks into another light. The White House must now put into doubt any friendly attitude that it may have towards Julian Assange’s organization.
At this stage nobody knows its intentions and long term plans. The saying the “enemy of my enemy is my friend” has led many politicians to make fatal mistakes and Donald Trump’s advisors would do worse that to direct him to look on Wikileaks as a foe rather as a friend.
Last year the target was Hillary Clinton, yesterday the target was the CIA and nobody knows if and when the target will become Donald Trump.
With the shadow of Vladimir Putin hanging over Wikileaks anything is possible.
