UK PM Burnham exchanged messages with Trump aide impersonator

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham exchanged messages with an individual posing as White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, a senior Trump ally, before growing suspicious and alerting authorities. The incident, first reported by Politico, involved only a small number of texts described by officials as carrying no significance, and Downing Street has refused to comment, citing national security protocols.

The British embassy in Washington raised the matter directly with the White House after the exchange came to light, according to multiple officials familiar with the events. Burnham, who took office in July after succeeding Keir Starmer, began to doubt the legitimacy of the contact during the brief exchange but had already sent several messages by that point. Sources stressed that no phone call took place and that the texts were reported promptly once concerns emerged.

The impersonation fits a pattern of security lapses surrounding Wiles. Last May an FBI investigation was opened after an unknown party accessed her personal phone contacts and used them to reach senators, governors, business executives and other prominent figures. The messages did not originate from Wiles's actual number, yet recipients were sufficiently convinced to respond. Trump himself publicly acknowledged the breach at the time, insisting that nobody could truly impersonate his chief of staff. Wiles had also been targeted in 2024 by a cyber espionage unit linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards, underscoring the repeated vulnerabilities around one of the president's closest advisers.

Such incidents are not isolated to the current administration. In 2024 then-foreign secretary David Cameron exchanged texts and took a hoax call from someone pretending to be former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko. The Foreign Office confirmed the earlier episode, though details remained limited. The latest case raises fresh questions about how easily high-level communications can be compromised when personal devices and contacts lists become entry points for foreign or criminal actors.

Burnham secured an early endorsement from Trump shortly after entering Downing Street, a development that some viewed as an attempt to reset transatlantic relations following years of friction. The timing of the impersonation attempt remains unclear, but the episode occurs against a backdrop of documented security concerns within the Trump orbit, including a defense department review that faulted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for sharing operational details in a group chat that inadvertently included a journalist.

A government spokesperson reiterated that officials would not discuss national security matters. The White House has so far declined to confirm whether it received the embassy notification or what, if any, steps followed. For now the episode stands as another reminder that even brief contact with an impersonator can draw the attention of multiple governments when the target is the leader of a close ally.