British Prime Minister Andy Burnham exchanged texts with someone he believed to be President Donald Trump’s top adviser before discovering that a fraudster was impersonating her.
Burnham had a back-and-forth with a number claiming to be from White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, according to multiple outlets. The prime minister, who took the reins at 10 Downing Street in July, sent a “few messages” to the impersonator that were “of no significance,” according to Politico.
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A White House official told the Washington Examiner on Monday that the latest incident with Burnham “had nothing to do with the Chief of Staff’s devices being hacked,” appearing to reference Wiles’ saga last year when the FBI investigated an apparent impersonator.
In the latest incident, Burnham quickly grew suspicious and reported the interaction to security authorities, an official told the New York Times. The communication between Burnham and the person posing as Wiles was only in the form of messages, and there was no conversation between the two, according to the BBC.
The prime minister’s national security gaffe marks the second time during Wiles’ time as Trump’s chief of staff that an impersonator has fooled officials.
In May 2025, the Wall Street Journal reported that the FBI opened an investigation after multiple politicians received phone calls and text messages from someone claiming to be Wiles. At the time, Trump said Wiles had been hacked but added that he was not concerned because his chief of staff is “an amazing woman” who “can handle it.”
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Burnham became Britain’s seventh prime minister over the past decade in July, after Keir Starmer handed in his resignation in June, capping off a politically volatile era for the island monarchy.
The new prime minister assumed the position after Starmer left due to a variety of political troubles, with his Labour Party performing poorly in recent elections and the country souring on his inability to lead Britain out of economic stagnation, among other issues.
