Burnham says hoax Wiles messages were quickly reported

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Tuesday he is not embarrassed that he exchanged messages with someone impersonating Susie Wiles, President Donald Trump’s White House chief of staff, insisting the contact was brief, inconsequential and promptly reported.

“No, I’m not, because there was a minimal exchange, nothing of consequence, and actually, quickly I realized that this needed to be reported, and I did so,” Burnham told reporters when asked whether the incident embarrassed him.

“I handled it in the right way,” he added. “All politicians are receiving these pressures and these challenges, but I did everything right. There was a minimal exchange of information of zero consequence, and it was quickly reported.”

Politico first reported Monday that Burnham had communicated with a person claiming to be Wiles, citing four anonymous officials. It remains unclear when the messages were exchanged, how many there were or what messaging platform was used. Burnham took office as prime minister on July 20.

The BBC reported that the communication was understood to have been in the form of messages and that there was no conversation between Burnham and the person posing as Wiles. Asked what was being done to determine who was behind the incident and to improve security systems, Burnham said the “correct action” had been taken in both the United Kingdom and the United States, but he did not provide further details.

Downing Street declined to discuss specifics. A spokesperson told NBC News on Monday, “We do not comment on national security matters.” Burnham’s office later pointed NBC News to his public remarks when asked for comment.

The episode drew a call for parliamentary scrutiny. Liberal Democrat MP James MacCleary wrote Tuesday to Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee, asking it to consider an investigation into what he called an “egregious security breach.” In his letter to committee chairman Lord Beamish, MacCleary said the security of the prime minister’s communications “ought to be an absolute priority.”

“We need to understand how this breach could occur, or else risk it being repeated,” he wrote. NBC News reported that MacCleary also called for an investigation “into how such a dangerous security breach could be allowed to happen.”

Trump appeared unaware of the matter when asked about it Monday in the Oval Office. “I’m sure that he had a miscommunication,” he said. Trump spoke with Burnham shortly after Burnham took office and said in a July post on Truth Social, “We will be meeting in the not too distant future for topics of mutual interest.”

Politico reported that some inside the U.K. government were concerned Wiles’ phone had been hacked, noting that The Wall Street Journal reported last year that Wiles told associates her cellphone contacts had been hacked. A White House official rejected that connection in the latest incident, telling NBC News, “This incident had nothing to do with the Chief of Staff’s devices being hacked.” A White House official similarly told the BBC the latest incident “had nothing to do” with Wiles’ phone being hacked.

The BBC previously reported that the FBI investigated a hack of Wiles’ personal phone in May last year. Wiles told people at the time that her phone had been hacked after an impersonator, or impersonators, used her contacts file to message other senior U.S. officials. NBC News reported at the time that U.S. officials were investigating an effort to impersonate Wiles after an unknown person contacted prominent Republicans and business executives while pretending to be her.

The BBC noted that Burnham is not the first senior British political figure to have dealt with an impostor. In 2024, the Foreign Office confirmed that then-Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron had been the target of a hoax call from someone pretending to be former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Cameron also exchanged text messages with the impersonator. The Foreign Office said it released details publicly because of concerns the exchange could be “manipulated.”