Trump pledges to engage in "cyberwarfare"

President Trump has officially enshrined "cyberwarfare" as a specific element of his administration's foreign policy, particularly with regards to bringing down ISIS.

The new position was outlined as part of the president's 'America First Foreign Policy', a policy which emphasises "peace through strength" and states that "[America's] military dominance must be unquestioned".

"The Trump Administration will work with international partners to cut off funding for terrorist groups, to expand intelligence sharing, and to engage in cyberwarfare to disrupt and disable propaganda and recruiting," a post on WhiteHouse.gov read.

Online platforms like Twitter, Facebook and more are frequently used as tools by terror groups, and preventing this kind of activity has been a high priority for intelligence officials during the last few years. Similar sentiment in the UK has led to the government pushing through a series of wide-ranging state surveillance powers, in the form of the Snooper's Charter.

While the use of both aggressive and defensive cyber security tactics by US military and intelligence agencies has been common practice for years, this marks the first time that so-called 'cyberwarfare' has been a prominent feature of official foreign policy.

The area has been the subject of much scrutiny in recent months, with accusations that the Russian government used cyberwarfare tactics to influence and disrupt the US election. Intelligence Committees in both the house and the Senate are planning formal investigations into allegations that the Trump campaign had contact with Kremlin operatives during the election - allegations that the president denies.