President Donald Trump continues to support Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth amid calls from some Democrats for his resignation due to a leaked Signal chat that contained details about a military operation in Yemen.
The president addressed the issue following Hegseth’s inadvertent sharing of information regarding the strike with administration officials in a Signal chat that mistakenly included Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic. Goldberg subsequently published the complete messages on Wednesday morning.
In response to several Democratic lawmakers urging Hegseth to resign over the incident, reporters inquired whether Trump believed Hegseth might consider stepping down. Trump defended Hegseth, stating, “Hegseth is doing a great job; he had nothing to do with this. How do you bring Hegseth into this?”
Trump also noted that his national security advisor, Mike Waltz, accepted responsibility for mistakenly including Goldberg in the Signal chat. “Mike Waltz… he claimed responsibility, I would imagine. It had nothing to do with anyone else. It was Mike, I guess; I don’t know, I was told it was Mike,” Trump remarked when questioned about the investigation.
The president downplayed concerns regarding whether Hegseth had disclosed sensitive information that could jeopardize the operation, emphasizing the mission’s success. “There was no harm done because the attack was unbelievably successful that night,” Trump stated.
He further questioned the rationale behind the Democrats’ calls for Hegseth’s resignation and raised doubts about the functionality of the Signal app. “Look, it’s all a witch hunt… you want to ask about whether or not Signal works, I don’t know if Signal works; I think that Signal could be defective, to be honest with you,” Trump commented.
The encrypted application, which automatically deletes messages after they are read, is widely used in Washington, D.C., for secure communications.
“You use Signal, we use Signal, and everybody uses Signal, but it could be a defective platform, and we’re going to have to find that out,” Trump concluded.
Arizona Democratic Senators Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly have demanded the resignation of Secretary Hegseth for disclosing operational details on the platform.
“The Signal incident exemplifies the consequences of having the most unqualified Secretary of Defense in history. We are fortunate that no servicemembers lost their lives, but for the sake of our military and national security, Secretary Hegseth must step down,” Kelly stated on X.
“This could have endangered the lives of our troops!” Gallego expressed on social media. “The Secretary of Defense must resign. The level of incompetence and the subsequent cover-up are disgraceful.”
In response, Hegseth defended himself on X, asserting that he did not disclose any classified information in the chat and criticized The Atlantic for misrepresenting his messages as “war plans” on Tuesday.
“The Atlantic published what they termed ‘war plans,’ which contained: No names. No targets. No locations. No units. No routes. No sources. No methods. And no classified information. Those are some truly inadequate war plans,” Hegseth remarked on X.
On March 15, Hegseth sent a message titled “Team Update” to a group of senior Trump administration officials, which included details about the scheduled military strikes, such as timing and weaponry.
Hegseth contended that he was merely providing a “team update,” reiterating that he did not share any ‘war plans.’ “My role is to provide real-time updates. General updates keep everyone informed. That is what I did; that is my responsibility,” Hegseth added.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio also addressed inquiries regarding the incident.
“Clearly, someone erred significantly by including a journalist. No offense to journalists, but they should not have been part of that conversation. At no point did any of the information jeopardize the operation or the safety of our servicemen,” Rubio stated, emphasizing that there was no classified information in the chat.
