An adviser to US president Donald Trump once questioned Microsoft Corp for not spying on its users around the world on behalf of the government, the software giant’s president has revealed, as Washington continues its campaign against China’s Huawei Technologies over national security concerns.

“As an American company, why won’t you agree to help the US government spy on people in other countries?” Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president and chief legal officer, recounted how he was asked by the adviser on a trip to Washington. That inquiry is highlighted in Smith’s new book, Tools And Weapons: The Promise And The Peril Of The Digital Age, without naming the person or other details about that visit to the US capital.