PM says he's not embarrassed about hoax message exchange

Andy Burnham, the UK Prime Minister, has stated he is not embarrassed by his exchange of messages with a person impersonating US President Donald Trump's chief of staff. The politician emphasized that all politicians face these challenges, but he claimed he handled the security breach correctly. According to Politico, Burnham communicated with a person claiming to be Susie Wiles.

He said the exchange was minimal and had no consequence. Liberal Democrat MP James MacCleary has requested an investigation into the breach. Burnham explained that he quickly reported the incident, stating he handled it properly. He mentioned that all politicians encounter such pressures and challenges, but he did everything right.

The government has taken the correct actions in both the UK and US to investigate and improve systems, though they did not provide further details. MacCleary, in a letter to Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee, stated that the security of the Prime Minister's communications should be a top priority and urged to understand how the breach occurred to prevent it from happening again.

Downing Street did not disclose when the messages were exchanged, how many there were, or the communication platform. A White House official stated the incident had nothing to do with Wiles' phone being hacked. Wiles, a prominent Trump ally, had previously claimed her phone was hacked after impersonators used her contacts file to message other top US officials.

The FBI was investigating the hacking of Wiles' personal phone in May 2023. Burnham is not the first UK political figure to encounter an imposter; in 2024, then-Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron also exchanged text messages with someone pretending to be former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. The Foreign Office released details of the exchange to prevent manipulation.