European Commission members heading to the United States next week are being given burner phones due to concerns they will be spied on by American intelligence.
According to the Financial Times, European commissioners heading to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in Washington DC next week will be issued burner phones and basic laptops due to fears of espionage in Donald Trump’s America.
Such an extreme security measure is usually taken when officials are traveling to China or Eastern Europe due to fears over surveillance from Beijing and Moscow.
But sources told the Financial Times that the European Union is “worried about the US getting into the commission systems.”
The Commission did not confirm giving its executives burner phones, but it did say that all EU officials traveling to the U.S. were advised to turn off their cellphones and hide them in “special sleeves” as border agents have detained officials entering the US over materials on their devices that are critical of Trump.
The European Commission is the executive arm of the European Union, which Trump has accused of ripping off the US in trade deals and placed tariffs on their goods imported into the US, which he then paused for 90 days. Trump also threatened to withdraw American security guarantees to Europe while embracing Russian President Vladimir Putin.
One EU official told the Financial Times that the tariff fallout and fears about possible espionage means “the transatlantic alliance is over.”
