Today Donald Trump will be inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States. But before the ceremony, mister Trump made a stop to hand in his Android device, which was previously identified as a Galaxy phone.
According to a report coming from the Associated Press, Trump exchanged his device for an unknown locked-down device which was approved by the Secret Services.
Before him, President Obama was also subject to the same treatment and used a heavily modified BlackBerry device which didn’t come bundled with the normal features – for security reasons.
Later on, Obama switched to an iPhone which allowed him to send emails to a select group of trusted contacts and browse the Internet. The report also reveals the President had a phone he used to write tweets one, but rarely pressed sent without consulting with his staff.
Speaking of which, the new President mainly used his now-ex Galaxy phone to send out tweets. Now it’s unclear whether mister Trump will be allowed another device on top of the super secure phone he is expected to use as chief of state. Mister Trump previously said he would like to continue to tweet, even as he steps into office.
This will mark an important change for Trump, who was previously easily accessible, even in the days following his election. For example, it was revealed that Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull received Trump’s number from golfer Greg Norman.
But with the super secure, encrypted phone in place, it won’t be so easy to reach the new President anymore. Which must be a relief for the Secret Services.