European Union executives traveling to the United States are being given burner phones and basic laptops to mitigate security concerns — measures that are usually reserved for trips to China and Russia, where personal communications are considered less safe from spying. Members of the European Com mission were advised last week to take precautions while attending next week’s International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank spring meetings in Washington D.C, according to the Financial Times. Officials overseas reportedly worry the U.S. may seek insight into “commission systems” when financial executives prepare to meet with their stateside counterparts. “The Transatlantic Alliance is over,” one EU official told the Times. Visitors were reportedly advised to turn off their unattended phones and place them in special sleeves to protect them from spying while in the nation’s capital. European Union (EU) executives traveling to the United States are being given burner phone and basic laptops to mitigate security concerns. (Shutterstock) At least one European researcher who used his phone to communicate derogatory thoughts about the Trump Administration claims to have been refused entry to the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security refutes that claim. Germans and U.K. citizens have been warned that entry into the U.S. has become more complicated. The White House hasn’t addressed the Financial Times story. Tensions between the U.S. and Europe escalated after President Trump announced, then postponed tariffs against the EU. The EU said it would respond with countermeasures. The Trump Administration’s unfavorable view of the nation’s European allies came to light during a major security breach last month when a magazine editor was looped into an instant message group chat that included top U.S. defense officials discussing a sensitive bombing strike in Yemen. During the correspondence, one participant believed to be Secretary of Defense and former Fox News host Pete Hegseth told Vice President JD Vance, “I fully share your loathing of European freeloading” when it comes to global defense. ...read more read less