There’s disbelief around the world after a journalist was accidentally added to a group chat in which US officials were planning military strikes. Messages include JD Vance and Pete Hegseth bluntly criticising Europe. Listen to the Trump 100 podcast as you scroll.
Tuesday 25 March 2025 18:15, UK
Live reporting by Kieren Williams
Ned Price, a former spokesperson for the US State Department under Joe Biden, has just been on Sky News reacting to the security breach which has rocked Washington.
Speaking on The News Hour with Mark Austin, he took issue with the White House’s official response – after it said no classified material was inadvertently leaked.
„It’s stunning. I don’t know if there’s another word for it. There’s not another word that captures the enormity of it in terms of the national security implications,“ Price said.
He said he’d sat in similar meetings in the previous government and never seen such a practice.
He went on to explain what he thought the thinking behind the White House’s response could be.
It was, Price told Sky News, „most likely“ lying.
But he said Trump’s team could be „relying on a distortion of the most technical of technicalities … where information can retroactively be declassified“.
„If, upon realising that this journalist was in this chat, they immediately declassified it, it’s plausible they are now using that as their defence,“ he said.
‚It should give Europe pause‘
Price also reflected on the dismissive attitude to Europe within the messages themselves.
„I don’t think that attitude will tell Europe something it doesn’t already know.
„I do think this will and perhaps should give our intelligence partners in European capitals some pause as they think about how and when to share intelligence with this administration.
„Trust is the coin of the realm … this erodes at that basis of trust.
„It should give Europe pause.“
By Martha Kelner, US correspondent, in Washington DC
I’ve just come away from a Senate hearing, which was already on the schedule before this fiasco, billed as a look at „worldwide threats“.
But the focus today is very much on the danger from within – with questions being posed about why military strikes were being planned using the Signal app, whether America’s (traditional) allies can trust it with intelligence, and whether the White House will take accountability for what has happened.
On the latter, the Trump administration is reading from a well-worn crisis management playbook.
Both press secretary Karoline Leavitt and communications director Steven Cheung are attacking the journalist invited to the Signal group, taking aim at what they call „fake news“ and the Democrats‘ „media allies“.
‚Hegseth should be fired‘
I asked Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat senator, whether Europe can trust the US with intelligence.
She responded by saying that „this breach shows the risks that the Trump administration is running both for the United States and for our allies around the world“.
She also called for defence secretary Pete Hegseth to be fired.
Team Trump’s fight back against this scandal continues this evening.
Steven Cheung, an assistant to the president and his White House director of communications, has called the media coverage of the security breach a „witch hunt“.
He’s been posting on X, saying: „The Atlantic story is nothing more than a section of the NatSec establishment community running the same, tired gameplay from years past.
„From the ‚Russia, Russia, Russia‘ hoax of the first term to the fake documents case of the last four years… at every turn, anti-Trump forces have tried to weaponise innocuous actions and turn them into faux outrage that Fake News outlets can use to peddle misinformation.
„Don’t let enemies of America get away with these lies.“
He later added – just to make his comparisons clear: „‚Russia, Russia, Russia‘ hoax led to a witch hunt.
„Documents hoax led to a witch hunt.
„Signal hoax outrage… a witch hunt.“
A bit more from the former Donald Trump national security adviser who spoke to Sky News earlier this evening.
Speaking on The News Hour with Mark Austin, John Bolton warned the chat group security breach „could violate laws prohibiting the dissemination of sensitive information“.
He said that, so far, not enough was known but there was „little or no doubt“ something had gone wrong.
However, he said his former boss Trump wouldn’t take action „until he feels the pain“.
„Trump will not see an investigation by the justice department, he will not discipline anyone until he feels the pain.“
Attitudes to Europe
Bolton also touched on the dismissive attitude the US showed towards Europe in the group chat.
„A lot of them [European allies] will be concerned and should be.
„They should be concerned about sharing intelligence with Tulsi Gabbard.“
Read some of the messages exchanged in the chat by top Trump officials about „European free-loading“ below…
We can now bring you some reaction from President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton.
Speaking on The News Hour with Mark Austin, he said the security breach was „even worse than incompetent – it’s just incomprehensible to me“.
He added: „Given the time and effort and money that the US has spent over decades to develop the most secure telecommunications capabilities in the world, that anyone would get on Signal and discuss anything related to national security…
„What’s the point of having this capacity just to ignore it?“
Bolton added he did not witness this sort of breach during the first Trump administration.
„We just didn’t do this sort of thing – there’s a place for a chat group; it’s called the situation room.“
Bolton questioned whether this was the first time such a thing had been done in this administration, and added: „I think this is just beginning.“
He characterised Trump’s reaction to the breach as a typical of the US president’s style.
There have been no shortage of slights made against messaging app Signal today, mostly concerning its suitability to be hosting top-level, classified military talks.
Pentagon rules state that messaging apps are not authorised to access, transmit or process non-public defence department information.
Despite this, Meredith Whittaker, the president of Signal, says the platform is up to scratch when it comes to its privacy.
She called the app „the gold standard in private comms“ in a post on X, adding that part of Signal’s „mission“ is to set a „high privacy bar“ in the tech ecosystem.
The app’s founder, Moxie Marlinspike, took a more lighthearted approach to the scandal…
The Senate Intelligence Committee hearing has now adjourned after two hours of questions for US intelligence chiefs.
Among those being questioned were national intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard and CIA head John Ratcliffe, both of whom are said to have been members of the Signal group discussing strikes on Yemen.
Ratcliffe denied the security breach was a „huge mistake“ and insisted the use of Signal was „permissible“.
Gabbard at first declined to confirm whether she was actually in the chat, before suggesting there was a distinction between the „inadvertent release“ and „malicious leaks“ of information.
We’ve just received a statement from the White House on the security breach.
It labels the criticisms of the Trump administration a „coordinated effort to distract from the successful actions taken by President Trump and his administration to make America’s enemies pay and keep Americans safe“.
It says Democrats „and their media allies“ have „seemingly forgotten“ that Trump and his team have „successfully killed terrorists who have targeted US troops and disrupted the most consequential shipping routes in the world“.
The statement contrasts Trump’s action against the Iran-backed, Yemen-based Houthi rebels against Joe Biden’s apparent inaction – but the US military under Biden launched a number of strikes against the Houthis.
Trump White House claims Biden ignored ‚pirates‘
„The Biden Administration sat back as a band of pirates… exacted a toll system in one of the most important shipping lanes in the world,“ today’s White House statement adds.
„Biden’s weakness invited these unacceptable attacks — while President Trump put these terrorists on notice.“
„The Trump Administration’s actions to hold the Houthis accountable has been a massive success — and nothing can distract from that unrelenting action to keep Americans safe.“
Some more reaction now from Martha Kelner, our US correspondent, who has been speaking to politicians in Washington DC.
I was on the Hill late yesterday as lawmakers digested the news of what can only be described (pre-watershed) as a colossal screw-up.
Calls were beginning for accountability and for someone to lose their job over this fiasco.
I asked representative Jamie Raskin if he thought fist bump and fire emojis were an appropriate way to be discussing military strikes.
He said no, obviously, but that „nothing surprises me about this crowd“.
It’s been exactly 24 hours since the Atlantic published its bombshell report revealing its editor-in-chief was included in a group chat alongside US national security leaders discussing planned military strikes in Yemen.
Jeffrey Goldberg’s sensational piece has caused political uproar across the pond, drawing widespread condemnation from Democrats and plenty of ruby-red Republican faces.
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US security breach latest: Trump dismisses war plan 'glitch' – as he attacks 'sleazeball' journalist involved – Sky News
