I hate to post anything that vaguely suggests agreement with Trump....
....but this was, ostensibly at least, done for a valid reason: US rural telecoms, who are generally not long on cash have invested in Huawei kit because it's so much cheaper than competitors', need the time to order and install hardware from alternative vendors. Some even qualified for federal grants only if they kept the price paid for their hardware low, so they're in effect being whiplashed by government policies.
And with an election coming next year, it'd be difficult for any Republican administration to antagonize any business sector and their customer base in solid red states who say things like, '"My members say, ‘We’re patriots, if you tell us it’s a national security issue, we’ll do it, but please provide us with the funding,’” [said] Carri Bennet, general counsel to the Rural Wireless Association, which represents companies in rural parts of Montana, Wyoming, Alabama and other states.(Source: The Washington Post [hardly a Trump echo chamber], PowerPost Cybersecurity 202 column by Joseph Marks, 20 August, 2019)
So this isn't quite a clueless as one might think from this article.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
