Editorial Board

Trump's Security Lapses Should Be a Wake-Up Call

The White House seems entirely unprepared for the digital age.

Not a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility.

Photographer: Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images

Not unexpectedly, President Donald Trump's first international crisis devolved into a social-media spectacle. After North Korea tested a ballistic missile last week, Trump conferred with his Japanese counterpart in full public view at his Florida golf resort. Aides used smartphones to illuminate documents, waiters came and went, and riveted dinner guests posted photos of the whole show. One club member even posed for a snapshot with a military aide carrying the "nuclear football."

The White House says nothing sensitive was revealed. Nevertheless, the scene offers a useful metaphor for an administration alarmingly unprepared for the dangers of the digital age.