Trump prods Apple to unlock iPhone for FBI

Washington - Apple failed to provide "substantive assistance" in unlocking two iPhones in the investigation.

Apple and the US government are at loggerheads for the second time in four years over unlocking iPhones connected to a mass shooting, reviving debate over law enforcement access to encrypted devices.
Attorney-General Bill Barr said on Monday that Apple failed to provide "substantive assistance" in unlocking two iPhones in the investigation into the December shooting deaths of three US sailors at a Florida naval station, which he called an "act of terrorism".
Apple disputed Barr's claim, while arguing against the idea of 'backdoors' for law enforcement to access its encrypted smartphones.
President Donald Trump weighed in on Twitter, saying the government was helping Apple on trade issues "yet they refuse to unlock phones used by killers, drug dealers and other violent criminal elements". "They will have to step up to the plate and help our great Country, NOW!" he added.