White House Staffers Ordered To Trash Burner Phones And All Other Items They Received In China Over “Bugging” Concerns

Although President Trump and other White House officials’ trip to China appeared warm, the U.S. Secret Service is not taking any chances.

According to White House staffers, U.S. security officials ordered all burner phones and items received from China to be destroyed.

Members of the press who were invited on Air Force One were also ordered to dispose of any items they received in China due to possible “bugging” concerns.

Yahoo News provided the full scoop on the security measures:

Fox & Friends co-hosts revealed the extent of security precautions taken by the U.S. delegation and press pool that traveled with President Donald Trump to China, noting that while the trip was “publicly” celebrated as a success, the “threat” from Beijing “bugging” personal tech was well understood.

Co-host Brian Kilmeade began by relaying his concerns about future deals involving Chinese technology as a “worry” before his colleague Lawrence Jones cited a tweet by New York Post reporter Emily Goodin explaining how “American staff” had thrown all “burner phones” in the trash before boarding Air Force One.

“Nothing from China allowed on the plane,” she said.

“Americans are saying we understand the threat of China, we’re going try to play nice try to get something done publicly, but privately we’re doing to deal with what is true,” Jones said.

In press pool reports seen by Mediaite, White House staff reportedly asked journalists to return badges and lapel pins used to identify them throughout the trip, saying Chinese officials wanted them back. These went into “a bin” along with the “staff burner phones.”

Following Jones’s observation, co-host Ainsley Earhardt revealed that she had “sources” on the plane to and unpacked the security measures taken by the delegation and traveling press cohort.

“They had to leave their American phones, turn them off, they did not take them into China, or if they did they left them on the planes,” she said. “They turned them off, they didn’t use them.”

She continued: “All of the Americans were using burner phones they had to destroy and leave them in China. They don’t want anything that belongs to the Chinese on that plane because they could be bugged. There could be spies.”

Fox News reports:

WOW: A White House press pooler revealed security was extremely tight during President Trump’s China trip, with American staff taking EVERYTHING Chinese officials gave them — including credentials, delegation pins, and White House-issued burner phones — all of which were… pic.twitter.com/ql1qYZ5T3e

— RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) May 15, 2026

President Trump revealed during his trip to China that he discussed with Xi Jinping about the recent cyberattacks conducted by China against the United States and revealed that the U.S. spies on China, too.

The Independent covered more on Trump’s remarks:

Donald Trump says he told Chinese President Xi that the US “spies like hell” on his country after he was asked if he’d confronted the authoritarian leader about cyberattacks against American infrastructure.

The President spoke to reporters on Air Force One shortly after departing from Beijing after a two-day summit.

He was asked if he had challenged the man he considers his “friend” about Chinese cyberattacks against the US.

“The question was asked to me yesterday, I guess, ‘What about the fact that China’s spying in the United States?’” Trump replied. “I said, ‘Well, it’s one of those things ’cause we spy like hell on them, too.’”

Reporter: Did you talk to Xi about the cyber attacks that he's done in the United States?

Trump: I did. And he talked about attacks that we did in China. What they do, we do too. pic.twitter.com/oE2wDXadOD

— Clash Report (@clashreport) May 15, 2026