The White House is ordering agencies to place its new app on all employees’ government phones
Updated May 22 at 8:57 p.m.
The White House recently unveiled a new app to give the public “unfiltered” access to “key priorities,” “historic moments” and “policy breakthroughs.” It’s now asking agencies to help install it on federal employees’ government phones.
The Trump administration launched the app, which promises to “[keep] you connected to President Donald J. Trump and his administration like never before,” in March.
The push to install the app on the devices of millions of government employees surprised current and former federal officials, who called the move highly unusual, even dangerous.
In at least one agency, automatic downloads will begin next week, in an initiative led by the White House itself, according to internal communications obtained by Government Executive. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earlier this week, agency chief information officers were ordered by federal CIO Greg Barbaccia to help the White House understand the mechanics of installing the app on all government-issued mobile phones in the executive branch, according to an internal email obtained by Government executive.
“The White House app gives all Americans direct access to live streams from the White House, breaking news alerts, new policy initiatives, social media posts and much more,” said White House spokesperson Olivia Wales. “Government devices typically include pre-installed applications that bring value to the daily work of government employees. »
The move is “dangerous,” said Sonny Hashmi, a former government IT official. Government Executive.
Cybersecurity researchers warned of vulnerabilities in the app shortly after its launch, such as how it shares users’ IP addresses, time zones and other data with third-party services. The app also raised initial concerns about its potential GPS tracking capability, but the White House has since removed that feature.
Forcing agencies to install it on government-issued phones to employees should be “cause for alarm,” said Hashmi, who worked at the General Services Administration for years, most recently as a Biden administration appointee. “Any application installed on government-issued devices can potentially create backdoor access to government networks behind the firewall.”
The Federal Aviation Administration told employees Friday that its IT team “will automatically install ‘The White House’ app on all FAA-issued iPhones and iPads, as required by the White House,” adding that the process would happen automatically and employees “would not have to take any action.”
“The app will provide access to breaking news, policy updates, live streams, videos, photos, social media content and exclusive early access information,” it says.
The app includes official statements and policy announcements from the administration, as well as a feed of social media posts from the White House and president’s accounts.
A button provides the option to send a “Text to President Trump”, which, when clicked, opens a text message to a pre-selected number with the default text “The Greatest President Ever!” » Sending the text enrolls the user in alerts, which individuals can also do through the app itself.
Although the instructions for installing the administration’s app on government phones may seem like a way to simply communicate more directly with government staff, “it’s not really operational,” said David Nesting, a former government technology official. Government Executiveemphasizing the fact that this is the same application available to the general public.
“It’s just about making sure that all federal employees are forced to see the same propaganda that they’re putting out to the public,” said Nesting, who previously worked in government service as a deputy CIO at OPM and also worked at the federal Office of the Chief Information Officer and the U.S. Digital Service before joining DOGE.
The app includes videos and posts that are overtly political or directly related to campaigns, the type of material that employees are typically discouraged from engaging with during work hours due to the nonpartisan nature of their jobs.
Barbaccia’s email to government IT officials suggests that the White House did not immediately understand how to force the app to be installed on all phones, as it requested help with the “mechanisms” to push the app to government phones.
This is at least the second time that the administration has sought to facilitate simultaneous communication with all federal personnel.
In the days after Trump returned to the White House last year, the Office of Personnel Management implemented a new email system, the first of its kind governmentwide — something that didn’t exist before. He then used the new system to send out the administration’s “At the Crossroads” deferred resignation offer to get hundreds of thousands of federal employees to resign from their positions.
This story has been updated with comments from the White House.
