Trump Trades in Android Phone For Secret Service-Approved Device (cnet.com)
Who's got two thumbs and a Secret Service-approved phone to tweet from? On arriving in Washington on Thursday ahead of his inauguration, Donald Trump has handed in his Android device in exchange for an unidentified locked-down phone, according to Associated Press. From a report: The phone comes with a new number that is known only to a limited number of people. This marks a big change for Trump, who's frequently on the line with friends, business contacts, reporters, foreign leaders and politicians. Barack Obama was the first president to use a mobile device approved by security agencies because of hacking concerns. Initially he had a heavily modified BlackBerry and later switched to another phone that had most features totally disabled. He was not known to use it for making or receiving calls, but it was one of few devices that had access to the @POTUS Twitter account.
If they're smart it will have been a toy phone. He can beep-boop-beep on it to his heart's content. Bonus points if pressing the buttons makes a pleasant sound each time.
I guess someone will have to program Putin's number in it for him.
Did they take tweeter off it?
I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
The Secret Service is the Department of Treasury, not the NSA.
The safest thing to do is give him a phone with no sim card, set the shortcut for twitter to open notepad, and let him tweet til his heart is content in that local text file.
tell me the phone somehow has Twitter blocked entirely.
Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
I hope they're also giving him a locked-down version of the nuclear football.
You are welcome on my lawn.
I am personally glad our new president wasn't part of the iSheep sect.
It's it any sensible setup it's twitter app never talks to twitter only a proxy.
No sir I dont like it.
Why believe the intelligence agencies now? -is this another vector for "leaks" and "very dishonest reporting" + "fake news"?
I'd say more but Trump is doing very well in digging himself into a hole without needed a shove.
A 'singular oddity' is an event that cannot be explained and only happens when you are alone.
Let's face it. Your argument is kinda weak because every president elect has always been the world's biggest target regardless of how much of the popular vote the pres won (for the curious, the presidential candidates must always spend resources to optimize their electoral college votes because that's what counts, unlike the useless popular vote). The president's smartphone is always locked down and provided by the government IT specialists regardless of what his previous preferences were. Just last year, when the Samsung Galaxy S7 was "the thing", Obama was handed a "locked down" Galaxy S4 because this is how it works. The commander in chief must always be using a tested and locked down device.
I use both iPhone & Samsung. If Apple doesn't give info to authorities on the terrorists I'll only be using Samsung until they give info.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 19, 2016
https://twitter.com/realDonald...
He was not known to use it for making or receiving calls, but it was one of few devices that had access to the @POTUS Twitter account.
And really, that's the most important part for Trump.
"What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
...currently still known as the Washington Monument...
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
It comes as no surprise that Trump would have to do the same for the sake of his security.
This is true; it is perfectly reasonable and expected that he would get a special, locked down phone. But at the same time, any excuse to be snarky about Trump is a good excuse to be snarky about Trump.
"What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
Tell me they replaced it with a Samsung Note 7.
should be been Bernie Sanders!
It would be better if Trump just tweeted by sending text messages to his staff, who can then post it. That would also add an extra level of protection against making a fool of himself.
the idiot will soon tweet his new number and brag about it being secure.
I really tire of hearing he got elected without the popular vote. Why? Because it's absolutely meaningless and the only thing the left keeps hanging there hat on.
The rules of the game are to win the most electoral votes, the end. Harping on the popular vote is like a losing football team harping on the fact that they had more yards total offense or a higher TOP (time of possession). Doesn't matter-the rules say the team with the most points wins. If the rules say gain the most yards, the strategy of the teams would totally change.
BUT BUT the people's votes should matter...If the rules of the US Presidential election say gather the most votes, then ENTIRE CAMPAIGN STRATEGIES CHANGE COMPLETELY. Who know's what would of happened then. Noone can say for sure. But I can tell you this, the popular vote total is not the same by any means. Maybe Hillary wins with a bigger margin, who knows...but for this vote we'll never know.
But as it stands the popular vote is just a meaningless statistic, yes most of the time the team with the most total yards and greater TOP wins the game, but not always and not this year. Hillary was a stat padding fantasy (pun intended) football player and meainwhile Trump won the Lombardi Trophy.
Also contains a custom version of Twitter that allows Putin to review and approve his tweets.
there's no place like ~
I thought only people who couldn't afford to use iPhone purchase Android.
Half of writing history is hiding the truth.
> If he gets our soldiers killed or sells us out, it's because SHE'S sleazy scumbag.
FTFY
Trump wouldn't have been elected if the Dems hadn't nominated Cruella de Vil.
So, if he is whacked today before taking office (and Obama appoints the next President, as CNN helpfully advised us will happen), you'll be relieved and think — perhaps even state — the murderer has done all of a us a favor?
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
I can understand why the Secret Service might be the ones who actually break the bad news and hand over the handset; but does anyone know if they actually have any role in 'approving' it; or do they just provide whatever the Information Assurance Directorate tells them is the correct answer?
Even aside from their recent history of embarrassing scandal, you don't really think of them as one of the techie outfits.
I'm assuming it's either a BlackBerry or some Android... anyone have an idea?
Certainly smarter than Obama
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
This is actually a great idea. A Twitter proxy for the POTUS. He might notice a 30 minute delay before his tweets get posted, but it would allow staffers a chance for a, "Mr President, are you sure about this?" moment.
It might even be enough for him to catch himself - "Do I really want to admit to SNL that I'm still watching?" or some such.
He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
It's sort of ironic that you call Trump a xenophobe while the entire Democrat and press establishment go on a witchhunt for foreigners that makes Mccarthyism look like Mr. Rogers.
I'm curious what the sky looks like in the Bizarro World that republicans appear to inhabit where they actually believe this sort of crap. Tribalism at its finest people...
Trump's xenophobic actions and statements stand on their own. If you don't recognize him for the reprehensible human being he is then I'm not sure what I can do to help you. The best arguments against Donald Trump come right out of his own unfiltered mouth. He's on the record endorsing torture, denigrating women, opposing reproductive rights, calling for mass deportations,endorsing trade wars, cutting taxes on the richest but not the poor, removing health care from millions without a plan to replace it, supporting religious bigotry, and a whole lot more.
She's a traitor, a habitual liar, incompetent, self-serving, and saggy-boobs deep in pay-for-play.
"Traitor"? Seriously? Can I have some of what you are smoking? And claiming that Clinton is less of a self serving liar than Trump is just idiotic.
Think on that. We elected an IDIOT because he's better than the alternative. If he gets our soldiers killed or sells us out, it'll be because he's dumb and incompetent, not because he's sleazy and malicious.
Trump is dumb and incompetent AND sleazy and malicious. It's not either/or. The man collects vendettas like a teenager collects Pokemon cards. Whatever you imagine Clinton's faults to be, Trump has matched or exceeded each and every one of them. Trump is a reprehensible, cruel, ignorant, narcissist, whose only real talent is self promotion.
At least with him, there's a chance.
If you actually believe that then you are dumber than you claim Trump is.
You forget who wrote the code.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
why no one has commented about this: http://metro.co.uk/video/donal...
Is Trump trying to tell us something about his hotels? Does he have a bunch of video of politicians, heads of state, and CEOs doing things they'd rather not have become public knowledge?
That is the first time I have seen her compared to me. It is a surprisingly apt comparison.
APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
Not likely - in the 95% of America that isn't a wildly liberal anti-gun and crime-free metropolis, we have guns.
True it need not even be automated but a staffer crossing an air gap.
No sir I dont like it.
Because voters are stupid. Trump knows how to play suckers. A million trade wars won't bring back old-style manufacturing jobs. It's educate or perish. He sold them snake-oil-nostalgia.
Table-ized A.I.