U.K. prime minister messages with impersonator of top Trump staffer
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham exchanged messaged with someone pretending to be White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.
August 17, 2026 / 6:49 AM EDT / CBS News
Burnham, who became prime minister in July, exchanged a "few messages" that were "of no significance" with the person, POLITICO quoted one of its sources as saying. Burnham began to suspect the person he was messaging with was not who they claimed to be during the conversation, the officials told the news outlet.
The prime minister's office at 10 Downing Street did not immediately respond to a CBS News request for comment, but a representative told POLITICO that it would "not comment on national security matters."
The BBC said it had confirmed the story, reporting that the communication was only a back-and-forth of messages and that Burnham and the unidentified prankster never had a verbal conversation.
What was discussed in the messages and when they were sent has not been revealed.