Donald Trump urged to fire US defence secretary Pete Hegseth over war plans leak
Donald Trump has been urged to fire US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth following the leak of highly sensitive war plans – as national security adviser Mike Waltz said he took “full responsibility” for organising the group chat.
The conversation on the messaging app Signal between US officials, including vice president JD Vance and Mr Hegseth, was leaked to American journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, who was added to the chat in error.
They discussed plans to conduct airstrikes on Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis, which took place on 15 March.
Latest: White House deflecting from scandal
Mr Waltz – who had mistakenly added Mr Goldberg to the Signal discussion – said: “I take full responsibility…I built the group.”
Democratic congressman Hakeem Jeffries, minority leader of the US House of Representatives, described Mr Hegseth as “the most unqualified Secretary of Defence in American history” and called for him to be sacked.
“His continued presence in the top position of leadership at the Pentagon threatens the nation’s security and puts our brave men and women in uniform throughout the world in danger,” he wrote.
“His behaviour shocks the conscience, risked American lives and likely violated the law.
“Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth should be fired immediately.”
The president has defended national security adviser Mike Waltz. Pic: Reuters
Speaking from the White House, Mr Trump downplayed the incident and said he believed the chat contained “no classified information”.
“They were using an app, as I understand it, that a lot of people in government use, a lot of people in the media use,” he told reporters.
Trump expressed support for Mr Waltz, telling NBC News his national security adviser “has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man”.
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How serious is US chat breach?
The US president said officials would “probably” not use Signal any longer but did not agree to a full investigation of what Democrats have called a major security breach which required high-level resignations.
Included in the conversation on Signal were Mr Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Mr Hegseth.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA director John Ratcliffe – who were both also in the chat – testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday that no classified material was shared.
Tulsi Gabbard and John Ratcliffe were under pressure as the Senate Intelligence Committee challenged them about the leak. Pic: Reuters
But Democratic senators have voiced scepticism, noting that the journalist, The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, reported Mr Hegseth posted operational details “including information about targets, weapons the US would be deploying, and attack sequencing”.
Republican majority leader, John Thune, said on Tuesday he expected the Senate Armed Services Committee to look into Trump administration officials’ use of Signal.
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Meanwhile, the White House has mostly attacked the journalist responsible for the original story instead of admitting culpability. The integrity of Mr Goldberg has been repeatedly called into question.
Posting on X, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt accused Mr Goldberg of sensationalising the story, and White House communications director Steven Cheung called the media coverage of the security breach a “witch hunt”.
Group chat gaffe wouldn’t happen in UK
If a British defence minister was found to have shared details about a live military operation in an unofficial messaging group with colleagues, they would be sacked.
That President Donald Trump has tried to dismiss the revelation that his top defence and security team not only did just that but accidentally included a journalist in the chat will be watched with deepening horror by US allies and growing glee by American enemies.
In public, the UK government is still insisting security ties with the US are as strong as ever.
But in private there will doubtless be horror – though perhaps not surprise – within Whitehall at this extraordinary lapse in the most basic operational security by the president’s national security adviser, defence secretary, national intelligence chief and even the boss of the CIA.
Any information about plans to – for example – launch bombing raids against Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen would ordinarily only be shared on specially designated government systems that ensure classified information is secure.
The fact that Mike Waltz, the national security adviser, felt it was acceptable to set up a group on the commercial messaging app Signal – which does provide encryption but is only as secure as the device that it is being used on (so not secure at all if a mobile phone or laptop is compromised) – to discuss plans to attack the Houthis is bad enough.
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The Atlantic has hit back, dismissing those claims. “Attempts to disparage and discredit The Atlantic, our editor, and our reporting follow an obvious playbook by elected officials and others in power who are hostile to journalists and the First Amendment rights of all Americans,” it said in a statement.
Mr Hegseth told reporters on Monday no one had texted war plans – prompting Mr Goldberg to call those comments a lie during an interview on CNN.
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It remains unclear why the officials chose to chat via Signal instead of secure government channels typically used for sensitive discussions.
The Pentagon reportedly warned of a known vulnerability on the Signal chat app, in an email sent out prior to the publication of The Atlantic article, according to reports by Sky News’ US partner network NBC News.
The email reported: “Russia-aligned threat groups are actively targeting the Signal Messenger application of individuals likely to exchange sensitive military and government communications related to the war in Ukraine”.
Employees were told the vulnerability could be mitigated by updating to the latest version of the app and applying proper settings.
A former FBI director has been interviewed by the US Secret Service over a social media post that Republicans say was a call for violence against President Donald Trump.
James Comey, who led the FBI from 2013 until he was fired in 2017 by Mr Trump during his first term in office, shared a photo of seashells appearing to form the numbers “86 47”.
James Comey later removed the Instagram post. File pic: AP
He captioned the Instagram post: “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”
Some have interpreted the post as a threat, alleging that 86 47 means to violently remove Mr Trump from office, including by assassination.
Mr Comey later removed the post, saying he thought the numbers “were a political message” and that he was not aware that the numeric arrangement could be associated with violence.
“I didn’t realise some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me, but I oppose violence of any kind, so I took the post down,” Mr Comey said.
Mr Trump rejected the former FBI director’s explanation, telling Fox News: “He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant… that meant assassination.”
Donald Trump Jr accused Mr Comey of “casually calling for my dad to be murdered”.
US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed in a post on X that Mr Comey had been interviewed as part of “an ongoing investigation” but gave no indication of whether he might face further action.
The Secret Service is part of the Department of Homeland Security.
White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich said Mr Comey had put out “what can clearly be interpreted as a hit on the sitting president of the United States”.
“This is deeply concerning to all of us and is being taken seriously,” Mr Budowich wrote on X.
Another White House official James Blair said the post was a “Clarion Call (…) to terrorists & hostile regimes to kill the President of the United States as he travels in the Middle East”.
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Mr Trump fired Mr Comey in May 2017 for botching an investigation into 2016 democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, the White House said at the time.
While Mr Comey was the director of the FBI, the agency opened an investigation into possible collusion between the Trump 2016 presidential campaign and Russia to help get Mr Trump elected.
The Trump administration is considering a TV show whereby immigrants compete for the prize of US citizenship, the Department for Homeland Security has confirmed.
It would see contestants compete in tasks across different states and include trivia and “civic” challenges, according to the producer who pitched the idea.
Participants could battle it out to build a rocket at NASA headquarters, Rob Worsoff suggested.
Confirming the administration was considering the idea, Department for Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said: “We need to revive patriotism and civic duty in this country, and we’re happy to review out-of-the-box pitches. This pitch has not received approval or rejection by staff.”
It comes amid hardline immigration measures implemented by President Donald Trump on his return to office in January.
Since being back in the White House he has ordered “mass deportations” and used the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged gang members to countries in Central and South America.
Rob Worsoff in 2013. Pic: AP
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Mr Worsoff, who is a Canadian-American citizen, said his pitch was inspired by his own naturalisation process.
He cautioned that those who “lost” the gameshow would not be punished or deported but said the details of how it would work would be down to TV networks and federal officials.
The producer said the US was in need of “a national conversation about what it means to be American”.
He said the show, if accepted by a network, would “get to know” contestants and “their stories and their journeys”, while “celebrating them as humans”.
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Behind the scenes of Trump trip
Meanwhile, the Department for Homeland Security has asked for 20,000 National Guard troops from various states to assist with its efforts rounding up illegal immigrants.
Currently, the federal Enforcement and Removals Operations agency only has around 7,700 staff – but the boost would help fulfil Mr Trump’s inauguration promises.
The Trump administration has already recruited 10,000 troops under state and federal orders to bolster the US-Mexico border.
Some have now been given the power to detain migrants within a newly militarised strip of land just adjacent to it.
At least 21 people have died after tornadoes hit two US states, according to local officials.
Fourteen people have died in Kentucky, its governor Andy Beshear said, while seven have died in Missouri.
The weather system also saw tornadoes tear through Wisconsin, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power.
In the city of St Louis, five people were confirmed dead and more than 5,000 homes were damaged, mayor Cara Spencer said on Saturday.
The storm system originally hit Scott County, 130 miles south of St Louis, on Friday, killing two people, Sheriff Derick Wheetley said.
The devastation that ensued saw roofs torn off buildings, blown-out windows, toppled trees, and power lines.
A house completely collapsed in St Louis, Missouri on Friday. Pic: Reuters
A map of the most impacted areas
St Louis mayor Cara Spencer said: “Our city is grieving tonight. The loss of life and the destruction is truly, truly horrendous.”
Dozens of people are believed to have been injured and in hospital, but the exact numbers in Missouri have not been confirmed.
Kentucky officials described the situation there as a “mass casualty event” after the weather system tore across Laurel County late on Friday.
The side of a house ripped off by storms in St Louis, Missouri. Pic: Reuters
Several people were taken to hospital, buildings were damaged, and a car flipped over on a busy highway, local officials reported.
Laurel County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Gilbert Acciardo said rescuers had “been on the ground all night looking for possible survivors”.
Kentucky governor Mr Beshear wrote on X that the number of dead in the state was likely to increase from 14 “as we receive more information”.
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People sit outside their destroyed homes in St Louis, Missouri late on Friday. Pic: Reuters
Further devastation expected in other states
The National Weather Service warned of further devastation hitting Texas, Kansas, and Oklahoma on Saturday.
“Severe thunderstorms producing large to very large hail, damaging gusts, and a couple of tornadoes are expected across the southern Plains,” it said on its website.
The Midwest tornadoes were also expected to hit Illinois, eventually stretching to New Jersey and the Atlantic coast.
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