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 19:58, UK
Live reporting by Kieren Williams
A bit more news to bring you from the now-adjourned hearing that took place earlier today.
Defence secretary Pete Hegseth came under scrutiny, with his role becoming a primary focus of questioning at one point, Sky News‘ US partner NBC News reported.
Both national intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard and CIA head John Ratcliffe reportedly said Hegseth was the „original classifying authority“ on the chat.
That was a reference to the fact, according to The Atlantic, Hegseth shared the targeting information some have warned was classified.
Hegseth could face further scrutiny over this as the investigation continues.
The following is an extract from The Atlantic piece referring to Hegseth’s messages:
„At 11:44 a.m., the account labelled Pete Hegseth posted in Signal a ‚TEAM UPDATE‘.
„I will not quote from this update, or from certain other subsequent texts.
„The information contained in them, if they had been read by an adversary of the United States, could conceivably have been used to harm American military and intelligence personnel, particularly in the broader Middle East, Central Command’s area of responsibility.
„…The Hegseth post contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the US would be deploying, and attack sequencing.“
Democrats call for Hegseth’s head
Earlier, Sky News‘ US correspondent Martha Kelner asked Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren about the security breach.
She called for Hegseth to be fired.
She added: „This breach shows the risks that the Trump administration is running both for the United States and for our allies around the world“.
Democrats are holding a press conference, taking aim at Donald Trump and his team over the security breach.
Trying to step up, after having been largely an absent opposition during the first few months of Trump’s second term, they called into question the conduct of some of the most senior officials in Washington.
Speaking first, representative Mikie Sherrill, a former US Navy pilot, warned: „Loose lips sink ships“.
She said the Signal group put American lives at risk amid reports one of its members was in Russia at the time.
„American lives were in danger because of that Signal chain,“ she said.
„If this has been reported on, we need to know what else is going on. We need to clean house and the president won’t,“ she added.
The opposition politicans called for an investigation after the actions „put our service members at risk“.
‚Amateur hour‘
Representative Salud Carbajal was next up to talk.
He described the Trump team’s handling of the situation as „amateur hour“.
„I speak for all the service members who were put at risk here; this was recklessness at best,“ he added.
„We could have dead pilots today, and so many others who could have been injured or killed.“
A third speaker, congressman Chris Deluzio, said this was „probably criminal conduct“ that involved „some of the most powerful people in America“.
He repeated calls for a full investigation that had consequences for those responsible.
Democratic Party representatives Pat Ryan, Mike Thompson, Ted Lieu, Mikie Sherrill, Chrissy Houlahan, Seth Moulton, Chris Deluzio, Eugene Vindman, Herb Conaway, Derek Tran and Gil Cisneros were present at the news conference.
Democrats are responding to the Trump administration’s security breach.
Watch along live below.
A Republican senator has said the security breach is „obviously not a great look“.
Ron Johnson, speaking to right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk, claimed the reaction to the inclusion of Atlantic journalist Jeffrey Goldberg in the Signal group was „embellished“.
But he broke from some of the rest of his party in admitting it would do them some damage.
„It’s obviously not a great look,“ he said.
He added: „My guess is this is a mistake.
„A mistake I’m sure is being… has been corrected immediately.
„It’ll be up to the president to decide exactly what action to take.“
Even though Johnson strayed from the White House lines, he repeated GOP attacks that the Democrats had blown the entire thing out of proportion.
When finally asked about the group chat, Donald Trump said everyone in his government used the app.
„That’s an app a lot of people use,“ he said.
But he did add it was best for officials to talk in the Situation Room – in the closest thing to a rebuke he’s managed so far.
He went on: „We have an amazing group, our national security is stronger than it’s ever been.
„There was no classified information, as I understand it, they used an app a lot of people in government use.“
He then turned over to Mike Waltz, who said: „We’re looking into and reviewing how the heck he [the journalist] got into this room.“
Waltz claimed the world „owes President Trump a favour“ for his strikes on the Houthis.
This was a theme both men repeated, trying to refocus the conversation onto the strikes – and not the security breach surrounding them.
‚If it was up to me, room would have lead walls‘
When asked if he planned to ban Signal, Trump said: „I don’t know anything about Signal. It’s used by a lot of groups, by the media a lot, by the army.
„But sometimes somebody can get onto those things… the best is to be there [in the Situation Room].“
He added: „We’ll look into it … but everyone else seems to be using it,“.
„If it was up to me, everyone would be sitting in the room together, the room would have solid lead walls, lead floors.“
We’ve finally come to the story of the day, in Donald Trump’s executive order appearance.
Trump avoided the story in the early stages of the signing, and it only came up when one reporter tried to ask about it.
But Trump avoided answering the question.
A female reporter tried to ask the US president about the topic, but he refused to answer the question, instead saying he was going to answer a question from a separate reporter.
They asked about the DOGE committee appearing tomorrow.
Donald Trump is signing executive orders at the White House in front of the cameras.
So far, he seems to be avoiding the security breach controversy.
You can watch along with the video below, if you wish.
The Atlantic journalist who was added to the Signal group chat with some of the most senior members of the Trump administration has rubbished the White House’s claims about his story.
Speaking on The Bulwark podcast with Tim Miller, Jeffrey Goldberg discussed his bombshell story and the US government’s response.
He said he wouldn’t publish more of the conversation, adding the White House was „wrong – they’re wrong.“
What the White House said
The White House has claimed that no „war plans“ were discussed in the group chat.
It also said that no classified material was sent to the group either.
Read the press secretary’s scathing tweet below:
What Goldberg said
Speaking to Miller, Goldberg said: „It [the group] was a timeline of coming attacks, the weapon systems used in these attacks, some very specific targeting information – who they are trying to kill in the next two hours.
„To me, that sounds like an attack plan. A war plan.
„Literally, they are talking ‚godspeed to our men‘, they understand they are about to send Americans into harm’s way.“
However, Goldberg seemingly ruled out releasing more of the messages, even to prove his point.
He added: „Just because they’re irresponsible with material doesn’t mean that I’m going to be irresponsible with this material.
„And you know what? I could.“
„My obligation, I feel, is to the idea that we take national security information seriously,“ Goldberg said.
To classify or not to classify?
Goldberg said the conversation about the information’s classification level was „interesting“, but refused to be drawn on it.
The information in the chat included the name of an undercover CIA agent, he added.
Earlier, we reported on a former Biden official explaining how Trump’s team may be trying to get around the claims of classification – see our 18:15 post.
Watch: A reminder of Goldberg’s earlier reaction – when he told NBC he was convinced he was being ‚spoofed‘
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.
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