Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Apple should comply with a court order demanding the company assist the FBI in unlocking the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino shooters.
"I agree 100% with the courts. In that case, we should open it up," Trump said on Fox and Friends. "I think security overall. We have to open it up, and we have to use our heads."
"To think that Apple won't allow us to get into her cell phone — who do they think they are? No, we have to open it up," Trump continued.
The cell phone, belonging to Syed Farook, is password protected and encrypted. The FBI has been unable to access the phone's encrypted data. A judge on Tuesday ordered Apple to turn over software that would allow the FBI to get around the phone's security features. Apple has said they will not comply with the order, calling the implications "chilling."
"The government would have us remove security features and add new capabilities to the operating system, allowing a passcode to be input electronically," Apple said in a statement. "This would make it easier to unlock an iPhone by 'brute force,' trying thousands or millions of combinations with the speed of a modern computer."
Trump said this is one case where federal authorities should be able to access the phone.
"Apple, this is one case, and this is a case that certainly we should be able to get into the phone and we should find out what happened, why it happened, and maybe there's other people involved, and we have to do that," he said.