EASTORA REPORT | Donald Trump responded to a warning that China was tapping U.S. phones with a startling claim of his own: Washington, he said, taps Chinese phones too.
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“Somebody said, ‘Oh, they’re tapping our phones,’” Trump recalled during an interview with conservative broadcaster Hugh Hewitt on Thursday, November 12. “I said, ‘That’s alright. We’re tapping their phones too.’”
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The president was discussing China when he argued that spying between the two powers was hardly a one-way affair. “We also go after China. It’s not a one-sided deal,” he said. “I just don’t want them to think we’re a bunch of babies that don’t know what’s going on.”
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His response was striking not because intelligence agencies gather information on foreign rivals—that has long been part of international politics—but because he described reciprocal phone tapping so casually, without identifying who was being monitored or how. Trump offered no details about the targets, timing or methods behind his remark.
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The exchange came against a backdrop of U.S. accusations that China-linked hackers had penetrated American telecommunications networks. In 2024, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said the campaign compromised multiple providers and exposed call records and private communications of a limited number of people, many involved in politics or government. Investigators also found that some material tied to U.S. court-authorized surveillance requests had been copied.
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The operation, known as Salt Typhoon, drew particular alarm over possible access to calls involving senior U.S. political figures. The FBI later said the campaign reached victims across the world, extending the dispute well beyond the two governments.
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Beijing has rejected accusations that it orchestrated cyberespionage against U.S. telecom networks, saying it opposes hacking and cyber theft. Trump did not link his own comments to Salt Typhoon or say whether any U.S. intelligence activity he had in mind was related to the Chinese intrusions.
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Trump’s point was less about exposing any particular operation than rejecting the idea tha