Trump Compares UK's Request For Apple Data With China's Supervision

United States President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (left) (photo: x @WhiteHouse)

JAKARTA US President Donald Trump compared the UK government's request for Apple to provide access to user data with surveillance practices carried out in China. In an interview with the political magazine The Spectator published on Friday, February 28, Trump stated that the action was unacceptable.

Trump revealed that he had submitted direct objections to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer during a meeting at the White House on Thursday 27 February. In addition to discussing data security issues, the meeting also included discussions on Ukraine and bilateral trade agreement negotiations.

"We really told him (Starmer) ... it was extraordinary. That's something you usually hear happens in China," Trump said in his first interview since returning as president.

A UK government spokesman responded with the statement that intelligence relations between Britain and the US were very close and taken seriously, but declined to comment on Apple's case specifically. Until this news was published, Apple had not yet responded to requests for comment from the media.

Last week, Apple stopped its advanced security encryption feature for cloud data for users in the UK in response to an unprecedented government request. However, the UK Interior Ministry declined to give a statement whether they actually issued the request.

Meanwhile, US Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, in a letter dated February 25 to two US lawmakers, stated that the government was investigating whether the UK government's actions violated the CLOUD Act a law banning the country from submitting data requests against US citizens and vice versa.

The Spectator magazine, which has a major influence among the Conservative Party and was once led by former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson last year was acquired by British hedge fund founder Paul Marshall.