On Feb 28, U.S. President Donald Trump expressed his disapproval of the UK government's request for Apple to provide access to certain user data. During an interview with The Spectator political magazine published on Friday, Trump likened this request to actions typically associated with China.
In the interview, Trump mentioned that he had informed British Prime Minister Keir Starmer that he disagreed with the request for data access, stating, "you can't do this." The two leaders met at the White House on Thursday for the first time during Trump's presidency, discussing matters such as Ukraine and working on a bilateral trade agreement.
Trump highlighted his concern during his first magazine interview of his second term with editor-at-large Ben Domenech, emphasizing, "That's incredible. That's something, you know, that you hear about with China."
A spokesperson from the British government noted, "we have a close intelligence relationship with the U.S. and we take the partnership seriously," without delving into details regarding the Apple case. Apple, on the other hand, did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
Following government pressures for access to user data, Apple discontinued a cloud data feature for UK users last week. A spokesperson from Britain's Home Office previously refrained from commenting on whether a specific order had been issued.
In a letter dated February 25 addressed to two U.S. lawmakers, Tulsi Gabbard, the U.S. director of national intelligence, raised concerns about possible violations of the CLOUD Act by the UK government, which prohibits demands for U.S. citizen data and vice versa.
The Spectator, known for its influence in Conservative circles, was once edited by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and is now overseen by British hedge fund founder Paul Marshall.