For eight years, Trump bugged (annoyed) Obama with questions about his birth certificate. Later, Trump claimed that Obama bugged (wiretapped) him.
Merriam-Webster offers this "legal" definition of "bug," but gives no etymology:
to plant a concealed microphone in — compare eavesdrop, wiretap
It's been used this way as both a verb and a noun:
Trump wiretapping claim: Did Obama bug his successor?
The reason the Administration insisted on "secure and controlled conditions" for reconstruction was because the bugs were planted into the walls of the embassy by Soviet Government construction workers.
A search on etymonline for "bug" says the use in the sense of "wiretapping" dates to 1919, but I can't find a reference to exactly how or why the meaning originated.
Given how frequently the topic of "wiretapping" has been in the news in the U.S., how did wiretapping come to be called "bugging?"
Best Answer
Bug, meaning "to arm something with an alarm" is from 1919 and this sense is mentioned as the forerunner of the word bug, meaning "to attach or install a listening device". Thus, it is not exactly true that the origin of the word bug, bugging in the sense asked in the original post is from 1919.
It is mentioned in the book 20th century words (by John Ayto):
Here is the excerpt from 1919, from the original source:
The earliest origin is mentioned as 1935 in the books 20th century words (by John Ayto) and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary: Eleventh Edition but I couldn't find the actual reference.
In OED, the earliest reference is from 1936 for the noun and 1955 for the verb.