Chinese Government-linked hackers have allegedly targeted the phone of the United States Republican President, Donald Trump and vice presidential nominee JD Vance, as part of a broader cyber-espionage campaign against high-profile U.S figures.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued a statement on recent cyber intrusions, without specifically identifying the Trump/Vance campaign.
However, sources informed ABC News that the hacks indeed targeted the Trump and Vance campaign teams.
“The U.S. Government is investigating the unauthorized access to commercial telecommunications infrastructure by actors affiliated with the People’s Republic of China,” read the statement from the FBI and CISA. “After the FBI identified specific malicious activity targeting the sector, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) immediately notified affected companies, rendered technical assistance, and rapidly shared information to assist other potential victims.”
Following this revelation, the Trump campaign pointed fingers at Vice President Kamala Harris and the Biden administration, suggesting they are “emboldening China and Iran attacking critical American infrastructure, to prevent President Trump from returning to the White House.”
Sources also revealed that these hackers have set their sights on senior officials within the Biden administration.
The Trump campaign received word from U.S. officials this week that Trump and Vance were included in a larger group of targets, one source reported.
A Trump campaign spokesperson, Steven Cheung, responded with a statement blaming the Harris campaign for allegedly “emboldening China.”
It remains uncertain whether the hackers successfully accessed any sensitive data, but high-level officials’ phone communications are highly sought after by foreign intelligence services.
This incident represents only one aspect of an extensive Chinese hacking campaign that has breached multiple U.S. telecommunications companies in recent months.
Investigators suggest the hackers might be seeking crucial national security information, and in some cases, have targeted data related to wiretap warrants by the Justice Department.
However, in the case of Trump and Vance, sources confirmed that there’s no indication that the hackers were specifically looking for law enforcement-related information.
Several major U.S. telecommunications giants—AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen—are among the entities that have come under cyberattack.
The Chinese government, meanwhile, has flatly denied these allegations, but concerns remain high as the scale of the operation grows.
