British PM Andy Burnham exchanged messages with Trump aide impostor: Report

LONDON: British Prime Minister Andy Burnham exchanged messages with an impostor posing as U.S. President Donald Trump's chief of staff, according to reports published Monday. A spokesperson for Burnham declined to comment, saying it was the government's policy not to discuss "national security matters."

Politico, citing four unnamed officials, first reported that Burnham believed he was messaging with Susie Wiles before becoming suspicious and ending the communications.

Last year, the U.S. government investigated a series of messages sent to elected officials, business executives and other prominent figures by someone posing as Wiles.


Soon after those incidents, the State Department warned U.S. diplomats about attempts to impersonate Secretary of State Marco Rubio and possibly other officials using artificial intelligence. The warning followed the discovery that an impostor posing as Rubio had attempted to contact at least three foreign ministers, a U.S. senator and a governor.

The FBI had previously warned of "malicious actors" using AI to impersonate senior U.S. government officials.

Burnham, who became prime minister less than a month ago, has sought to build good relations with the White House. Trump initially developed a warm relationship with Burnham's predecessor, Keir Starmer, before relations deteriorated.