Trump Hid His Calls With Putin Now Biden Has Access To Them
What was said between the two leaders is a great mystery, one that advisers to the current president say is imperative to find out.
President Donald Trump shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the G-20 summit in Japan in 2019. | Susan Walsh/AP Photo
By Natasha Bertrand and Daniel Lippman
02/09/2021 07:55 PM EST
Few Trump-era mysteries are as intriguing as what the 45th president said to Vladimir Putin in at least a dozen rambling, off-the-cuff calls and meetings over four years. Understanding what was said between the two could help illuminate whether Trump ever revealed sensitive information or struck any deals with the Kremlin leader that could take the new administration by surprise.
Now that President Joe Biden is in the White House, he can see for himself.
They dont need our approval to see those , a former Trump White House official said, referring to the new Biden national security team. Biden owns all the call materials. There is only one president at a time.
The Biden White House did not comment on whether it had seen the content of the calls. But so far, at least, the National Security Council has not registered any complaints with their ability to access relevant call records from the previous administration.
Of course we didnt delete anything and they would be in NARA and accessible, the official said.
We really tried hard to do it well, said the second former Trump official, who participated in the process.
President Obama Used A Dumbed
If history is any indication, Trumps mobile phone for the next four years will be pretty locked down by the National Security Agency.
Barack Obama was the first US president to use a cell phone while in office. When he first became president, Obama was allowed to keep his Blackberry, but the NSA modified the device so he could only contact his closest advisors, according to CNN. During his last year in office, Obama was allowed to ditch the Blackberry for an iPhone, but that device also had many of its features wiped away for security reasons, including the ability to take photos, text, make calls, or play music. He could only really use the iPhone to email with a select group of people, browse the Web, and read the news.
Obama last year on Jimmy Fallons Tonight Show griped about the smartphone, which he compared to a play phone for toddlers. Check out the video above.
He Would Have A Target On His Back
Security experts dont expect Trump would be tossed into the fray with other prisoners.
He would certainly not be part of the general population, said Ken Gray, a retired FBI special agent who served 24 years in the bureau.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons, which is part of the Department of Justice, and the Secret Service, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, would almost certainly need to work together to coordinate Trumps protection, Gray said.
Exactly where a federally convicted president would land would be at the discretion of a judge, with some input from the Bureau of Prisons, another former Secret Service agent told Insider.
The Otisville security camp outside of New York City is an example of where some high-profile convicts ask to serve their time. It made a Forbes list of Americas 10 Cushiest Prisons in 2009. The famous Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff asked to be sent there, but he was assigned by the Bureau of Prisons to North Carolina instead. Michael Cohen started serving his 3-year prison sentence at Otisville too, but the former Trump lawyer got released to home confinement last spring due to concerns about the coronavirus.
A bit closer to Trumps Mar-a-Lago Club, theres a minimum-security federal prison camp in Pensacola, Florida. That prison also made Forbes list of the cushiest locales.
Trump he would have a target on his back, said Deitch.
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What Pen Does Biden Use To Sign Executive Orders
Senior writer Karen Iorio Adelson has covered everything from stocking a medicine cabinet to adopting a pet. Shes especially passionate about running and cat furniture
Senior writer Karen Iorio Adelson has covered everything from stocking a medicine cabinet to adopting a pet. Shes especially passionate about running and cat furniture
After a refreshingly stylish inauguration ceremony , newly sworn-in President Biden wasted little time getting down to work, signing 17 executive orders in the Oval Office on his first day. Neatly stacked in a pile of leather-bound folders, the orders addressed an array of critical issues facing the country, from the pandemic and climate change to immigration and racial justice. My detail-obsessed Strategist mind, though, couldnt help but focus on another item on the Resolute desk: a little wooden box displaying a lineup of identical black-barreled pens with shiny gold accents. Obviously I had to find out: What is Bidens pen of choice?
When Trump took office, his administration initially ordered a stock of Century IIs, but, as Trump told Axios, he soon rejected the official pen in favor of a chunky Sharpie. He says he asked the brand to design a custom one for him and to make it look rich. Trumps Sharpie was perhaps most infamously used to adapt the projected course of Hurricane Dorian on a White House map in 2019 to support his inaccurate tweet that the storm would impact Alabama.
Does Donald Trump Have Defiance Disorder: New Book Claims Presidents Aides Think So
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U.S. President Donald Trumps close aides have described Trumps seemingly off-the-cuff and spur-of-the-moment behaviour as defiance disorder, according to a new book detailing a behind-the-scenes look at the workings of the inner White House.
A new tell-all book, titled Media Madness: Donald Trump, the Press, and the War over the Truth, was written by long-time Washington Post columnist Howard Kurtz, is expected to hit store shelves next week. The book depicts the presidents animosity with the press and how his close advisers are sent scrambling after Trump hammers out an unexpected tweet.
According to excerpts obtained by the Post, Trumps aides have been blindsided at times when the president fires off an early morning tweet and that he seems to have a knack for doing what his advisers urge him not to do, the Post reported, leaving it to them to handle the aftermath. Those aides have dubbed this behaviour as a defiance disorder.
According to excerpts as reported by the newspaper, Kurtz alleges in his book that Trumps aides were confused when he took to Twitter on a Saturday to accuse former president Barack Obama of wiretapping him during the election campaign.
Nobody in the White House quite knew what to do, Kurtz writes, according to the Post.
Reince Priebus, who was Trumps chief of staff at the time, had to handle the fallout.
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Trump Cant Even Figure Out Which Smartphone To Use
Senior Tech Editor, The Huffington Post
Donald Trump flip-flops even when it comes to his choice of smartphone.
The Republican presidential candidate called for a boycott on Apple products last week when the tech giant refused to unlock an iPhone connected to a terror investigation. He vowed only to use Samsung devices until Apple changes course, and urged his supporters not to give Apple any business. But a glance at his tweets Friday reveals that Trump or someone on his campaign is still using an Apple iPhone to dole out abuse.
The plot thickens: Trump also appears to be using an Android phone . Here he is elevating the discourse about rival candidate Ted Cruz:
A representative for Trumps campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
Its likely that Trump doesnt actually press the publish button on all of his own tweets, though he reportedly dictates all of them, at least. And its previously been reported that his personal device is a Samsung Galaxy phone.
Still, the man made a pretty blunt statement about iPhones last week: Dont use them until Apple cooperates with the FBI. Apple certainly hasnt done that yet, so whats the deal?
While Trump flip-flops constantly, this situation actually offered him a chance to be consistent for once. The business mogul has railed against Apple before for failing to build a larger iPhone, because huger is always better:
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Trump Routinely Weighed In On Phone Security Issues And Even Used What One Report Said Were Essentially Burner Phones
We learned Tuesday that the White Houses records of President Donald Trumps phone calls and actions on Jan. 6, 2021, contain a large, conspicuous and thoroughly convenient gap: For more than 7½ hours as the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was taking place and afterward, there are no records of his phone calls, although records show Trump working the phones extensively both before and after the gap.
This has led to questions about whether he might have used a burner phone a temporary, disposable phone that is difficult to trace and the Jan. 6 committee is investigating that possibility. Even before this latest news, some reporting indicated that at least some individuals involved in the Jan. 6 rally had used burner phones to communicate with the White House and members of the Trump family.
To which Trump offered a rather broad denial. Not only did he not use a burner, but I have no idea what a burner phone is, Trump said, adding that to the best of my knowledge I have never even heard the term.
This seems unlikely. And not just because former Trump national security adviser John Bolton says Trump knows better and has used the term before.
Its true that Trump doesnt appear to have used this term in public. dating back decades includes no mentions of burner phones, disposable phones or, apparently, any other way to refer to such devices.
Actual burner phones have also factored into incidents more directly involving Trump.
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Which Android Phone Does Donald Trump Use
ByAlex Dobielast updated 26 April 18
The New York Times has reported that Donald Trump still tweets from the White House on his old, unsecured Android phone, to the protests of some of his aides, contradicting earlier reports that the president had turned in the handset in exchange for a secure, encrypted device approved by the Secret Service. Its difficult to know with 100% certainty which Android device Trump currently uses to tweet
But we sure can offer you some informed speculation!
There are only a few photos out in the wild of Trump using his smartphone, usually reported to be a Samsung Galaxy. That doesnt exactly narrow it down, and most of the photos available online are low-res, making the matter trickier still. Whats more, the device appears to be in a case, obscuring some identifying features. Of the two clearest images we have of Trump using his Android phone, one comes from a NYT report dated October 2015:
The back is pretty revealing, but you have to zoom in close to pick out identifying features. The two dead giveaways are the features flanking the camera bump even in this low-res shot, Trumps phone quite clearly has an LED flash on the left, and a less reflective marking in the same place over on the right. The only major Samsung phone released in the U.S. with these features is the Galaxy S3, launched way back in 2012.
You have to look really close to see exactly which Galaxy Trump is using.
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Deliberate Infection And Body Double Conspiracy Theories
Republican supporters â in some cases tweeting from verified accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers â have spread a baseless rumour that the president was somehow deliberately infected with Covid-19 at some point during last weekâs debate.
This goes well against the tide of early evidence showing that several top officials who have been infected, all attended a White House event announcing Mr Trumpâs supreme court nominee, held several days before the debate.
Meanwhile, the suggestion that Mr Trump tested positive earlier than was originally suggested has led to rumours that heâs more ill than doctors have let on â and even that his most recent public appearances were staged with a body double.
Tweets to this effect from accounts mostly supporting the Democratic Party accumulated thousands of retweets.
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Send A Letter To The White House
Here are a few simple things you can do to make sure your correspondence gets to the White House as quickly as possible.
- If possible, email us! This is the fastest way to reach the White House.
- If you write a letter, please consider typing it on an 8 1/2 by 11 inch sheet of paper.
- If you hand-write your letter, please write as neatly as possible with an ink pen.
- Include your return address on your letter as well as on your envelope. If you have an email address, please share it with us too.
- And finally, please be sure to write on the outside of your mailing envelope the complete address for the White House to make sure your letter gets to us as quickly and directly as possible:
The White HouseWashington, DC 20500
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Trump And Wright Remain In Touch
It may be impossible to definitively prove that Trump acquired his beliefs about vaccines and autism from Wright. Indeed, one of the chief lessons of the past three years of political journalism is that it can be futile to impute rational intention onto the operation of Trumps mind. But the evidence pointing to Wright is strong, and much more compelling than the theories pointing to Barron.
What is clear, though, is that Trump and Wright remain in touch. When Trump decided to celebrate World Autism Day in 2017 by shining a blue light on the White House, the press secretary at the time, Sean Spicer, told reporters the idea came from a longtime friend of the president, Bob Wright.
And in September, The Washington Post reported that Wright had personally lobbied the Trump administration with an untested proposal to contain gun violence by monitoring people with mental illnesses for certain behavioral changes associated with violence.
Bob does not have anything to add to the public comments he has made in the past, said Wrights spokeswoman, Liz Feld, the president of the Suzanne Wright Foundation. He would never discuss any private conversations he has had with the president.
Do you have something to share about Autism Speaks or the presidents views on vaccines? Contact Nicole Einbinder at , direct-message on Twitter , or text our tips line via Signal or WhatsApp at 768-4744. You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.
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What Phone Does Elon Musk Use You Wont Be Surprised
by Richard Goodwin | Oct 22, 2021 | Phones
Elon Musk is a billionaire. Hes reinvented the car and is now focused on getting more humans into space. But what phone does Elon Musk use? Lets find out
Elon Musk is something of an enigma. Hes still fairly young for a billionaire, but the guy has crammed quite a lot of things into his professional career. He basically made electric cars cool, helped get PayPal off the ground, and is now trying to make public space travel a thing with Space X.
When hes not messing with the crypto markets for his own personal gain, Musk is a father and a serial entrepreneur. Often controversial, Musk seldom minces his worlds and is known for his unique style of leadership and problem-solving. He is also known for spending ALL of his money on things he believes in.
For instance, Musk made $400 million from selling PayPal. But rather than jetting off to paradise, Musk put $100 million into Tesla, $100 million into Space X, and another $100 million in his other companies. He then spent the next year or so couch-surfing in and around LA at his friends houses and apartments.
But during ALL this, Musk needs to stay connected just like the rest of us, and for this reason, he ALWAYS has his phone with him. But what phone does Elon Musk use?
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Concerns About His Old Phone Persist
A Trump impersonator attends a rally in Las Vegas on Dec. 14, 2015.
Though reports indicate that Trump gave up his Android phone in favor of something more secure, the Times on Jan. 25 reported that he was still using his old handset to do one thing: tweet.
When Trump assumed the position of Commander in Chief, he also inherited Obamas Twitter handle, @POTUS, but most of Trumps action on Twitter still comes from his personal account.
Since moving into 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Trump has been using his old, unsecured Android to post on Twitter, raising national security concerns, the Times wrote, contradicting earlier reports that he got rid of the device.
Using the phone on an insecure Wi-Fi network could reveal his location and other data on the device, the report noted. Hackers could also potentially breach Trumps smartphone if he were to click on a malicious link inside a tweet or message, then turn on the camera or microphone to spy.
It would be pretty bad if Trump is still tweeting from the same Galaxy S3 he appeared to be using in February 2016. As Android Central pointed out, that handset hasnt been updated since 2015, meaning it lacks important Android security patches available to newer models.
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