White House AI voice-cloning hack spark security fears as deepfake of Trump's Chief of Staff triggers global alarm
30 May 2025, 20:17 | Updated: 31 May 2025, 05:14
The White House is investigating a major cybersecurity breach involving the personal mobile phone of Chief of Staff Susie Wiles - an incident that experts say represents a chilling escalation in the use of artificial intelligence to target the highest levels of government.
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According to reports first published by The Wall Street Journal and later confirmed by CBS News, Ms. Wiles’ contacts were accessed and used to impersonate her using AI-generated voice cloning technology.
Multiple high-level figures are believed to have received calls and texts appearing to be from her — a move experts warn could be used to manipulate sensitive decisions or spread disinformation at the heart of power.
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Speaking exclusively to LBC, Graeme Stewart, Head of Public Sector at cybersecurity firm Check Point, said:
“This White House breach is not just a hack. It is a chilling demonstration that AI can now convincingly impersonate the highest levels of government. We have entered an era where adversaries do not need to breach physical security or plant bugs. They can simply clone a voice and create chaos from a distance.
"If someone can fake the Chief of Staff to the President, what is to stop them from faking a Defence Secretary, a senior diplomat, or even a head of state? We are now in a world where false commands could be issued, critical decisions could be manipulated, and trust between individuals could be shattered in an instant.
"Hearing is no longer believing. And when that uncertainty reaches the highest offices, the risks multiply fast. The fact this has happened inside the White House should be a wake-up call for governments everywhere.”
Ms. Wiles herself is understood to have alerted contacts that her device had been compromised. While the full scale of the breach is still unfolding, the incident has already sent shockwaves through Western intelligence circles.
Stewart added: “Voice cloning and spoofed messaging aren’t science fiction — they’re happening now. This isn’t just a national security failure; it’s a strategic vulnerability.”
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly declined to confirm whether Ms. Wiles’ cloud account had been accessed or if the breach was the result of advanced spyware, saying only: “The White House takes the cybersecurity of all staff very seriously, and this matter continues to be investigated.”
It’s not the first time Ms. Wiles has been targeted. In 2024, The Washington Post revealed that Iranian hackers attempted to breach her personal email account. The Wall Street Journal now reports that they succeeded — obtaining a sensitive dossier on Vice President JD Vance during the presidential campaign.
The Trump administration has already faced a string of cybersecurity missteps. In March, a journalist was mistakenly added to a Signal group chat that included Ms. Wiles, Vice President Vance, and other senior White House officials. The chat — which included discussion of a potential airstrike in Yemen — was being run through TeleMessage, a Signal clone for government use, which itself was hacked twice, exposing messages and users.
The investigation into the compromise of Ms. Wiles’ device is ongoing.
But we are warned, as AI capabilities accelerate, experts say this breach could be the first of many in a new era of information warfare — where deception no longer requires physical infiltration, only data and a cloned voice.
LBC has contacted the White House and US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency for comment.