A top former aide to US President-elect Donald Trump has claimed that China hacked the GOP leader’s phone and stole data for six months. He also added that the communist nation was hoping to develop a first-strike nuclear capability against the US. The warning came from Trump’s national security adviser from 2017 to 2018, HR McMaster. While speaking at an event organised by the Council on Foreign Relations, a think tank, McMaster argued the US needed to impose “very significant costs” on China for its “massive cyber intrusions”.

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“They listen to President Trump’s phone and everybody around him for six months, right? They’ve stolen extraordinary amounts of data which we found on our telecom networks,” McMaster said.

It was not clear whether McMaster’s claims referred to October reports that suggested China government-linked hackers may have targeted Trump’s communications during the 2024 election campaign or earlier reports that accused Chinese spies of listening to his calls during his first term in office.

First-strike capability threat

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McMaster said he arrived at the conclusion that China was preparing to develop a first-strike capability by judging what China was doing “from a cyber perspective.”

Also read: Chinese hackers infiltrate US telecommunications, steal data of over a million people: Report

China is “really developing at least a latent capability to take down our communications networks as well as a massive build-up in their strategic forces,” he added. First-strike capability essentially means the ability to launch a pre-emptive nuclear attack in a bid to neutralise enemy’s nuclear arsenal to limit its ability to retaliate.

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McMaster also lauded the outgoing Joe Biden administration for doing “a pretty good job” at restricting China’s access to advanced chip manufacturing hardware and the Pentagon’s recent decision to designate more Chinese companies as firms linked to the military.

Also read: US Treasury confirms cyber breach linked to China-backed hacker

“I think that this is a competition that will certainly continue under the Trump administration,” he said.

(With inputs from agencies)