…As Gabon president hospitalized in Riyadh***
President Donald Trump’s cellphone conversations are being intercepted by Russia and China to gather information on his associates and policy positions.
According to New York Times, discovery was made by White House officials who were alerted by individuals working within these foreign governments.
The names of the White House officials and individuals working within these foreign governments have remained anonymous for security reasons.
They said the Chinese have determined a list of contacts with whom the president speaks most frequently.
The president keeps two official iPhones with modifications by the National Security Agency, and a third personal phone for personal contacts, White House officials said.
But using any cell phone poses some risk. The report indicated Trump prefers using his cell phones over the White House’s more secure landline.
China has sought to use the information to form ties with Trump’s associates or “friends of the Trump friends” to ensure Beijing’s views will be delivered to the president, according to the officials cited in the report.
Two men named in the report were businessmen Stephen A. Schwarzman and Steve Wynn, who both have dealings in China. Both declined to comment for the paper.
Fox News reached out to the White House early Thursday to confirm elements of the report but did not immediately get a response.
Russia does not monitor the president’s phone conversations to the extent of China because of Trump’s supposed affinity for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
But Trump’s aides have reportedly warned that Russian spies are “routinely eavesdropping” on his calls, the report said.
In the meantime, Gabonese President Ali Bongo has been hospitalised in Riyadh, Saudi state media said, without giving more details.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited Bongo in Riyadh’s King Faisal hospital and “inquired after the health of the president”, the official Saudi Press Agency said in a brief dispatch on Thursday.
Bongo, 59, was scheduled to appear Wednesday on a panel at the flagship Future Investment Initiative forum in Riyadh, but he was not seen during the discussion and organisers of the conference offered no explanation.
But in a separate dispatch, SPA said Bongo attended a speech by Prince Mohammed at the conference later Wednesday.
Gabon’s presidency appeared to downplay the development, telling AFP it was “nothing serious” and that Bongo was tired.
Bongo took over as leader of the oil-rich equatorial African nation in 2009 on the death of his father Omar Bongo, who had ruled since 1967.
In 2012, Ali Bongo was re-elected by just a few thousand votes in controversial presidential polls.
Additional report from AFP
