Donald Trump Calls for Apple Inc to Unlock iPhones of Florida Terrorist

• Apple has refused to build a backdoor to unlock an iPhone 5 and iPhone 7 belonging to the Florida shooter

• Trump called for Apple Inc to 'step up to the plate'

US President Donald Trump called for Apple Inc. to “step up to the plate" and suggested the company unlock iPhones used by the terrorist behind the Dec. 6 attack on a Florida Navy base.

In a tweet on Tuesday, Trump said the U.S. government helps Apple on trade and other issues, so in return, the Cupertino, California-based technology giant should unlock phones used by “criminal elements." 

Apple has refused to build a backdoor to unlock an iPhone 5 and iPhone 7 belonging to the Florida shooter, but it has said it has provided the government with lots of information from cloud-based backups of the devices.

The government doesn’t need Apple to break into and analyze the phones and can instead use third-party tools, Bloomberg News reported earlier Tuesday. One tool to simplify this process was updated on Tuesday.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Scrabbl staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)