President Trump is standing firmly behind Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in the wake of newly leaked revelations that he shared sensitive information about upcoming military strikes in a second Signal group chat with family members.
The group chat included Hegseth’s wife, Jennifer, a former producer for Fox News; his brother Phil; and his personal lawyer, Tim Parlatore, the New York Times reported. Both Phil Hegseth and Tim Parlatore work for the Pentagon, but, according to the Times, it was not clear why they were included in discussions on upcoming Middle East strikes.
The “SignalGate” controversy erupted last month after Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, was included in a Signal group chat discussing plans about the attack on Houthis in Yemen. Goldberg publicized the chat in the Atlantic, withholding details purportedly over national security concerns.
The Atlantic later published the entire group chat, showing that Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth had posted the “exact times American aircraft were taking off for Yemen” 31 minutes before the first warplanes launched.
Although the Trump administration insists no classified information was shared on the app, and despite the fact the March 15 military operation was executed flawlessly, Democrats immediately began pushing for Hegseth’s removal from office.
And earlier this month, the Pentagon’s Acting Inspector General announced that he was reviewing Hegseth’s use of Signal to discuss the military strike.
The latest report has sparked renewed calls for the defense secretary to step down.
John Ullyot, the former senior Defense Department (DOD) spokesperson who resigned last week, said in a scathing opinion piece in Politico over the weekend that it is “hard to see” Hegseth remaining in his position for much longer after presiding over “a month of total chaos at the Pentagon.”
“From leaks of sensitive operational plans to mass firings, the dysfunction is now a major distraction for the president — who deserves better from his senior leadership,” Ullyot wrote.
“The president absolutely has confidence in Secretary Hegseth. I spoke to him about it this morning, and he stands strongly behind him,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at the White House, Monday.
During an appearance on “Fox & Friends,” Leavitt later said that Hegseth “is doing phenomenal leading the Pentagon,” and claimed the entire Pentagon” is working against him.
“This is what happens when the entire Pentagon is working against you and working against the monumental change you are trying to implement,” Leavitt continued. “Secretary Hegseth was nominated for this position because he is standing up for the war fighter. The men and women in uniform that are putting their lives on the line to protect our country and our homeland.”
The press secretary contended that there are people at the Pentagon who “don’t like the change the secretary is trying to bring so they are leaking and they are lying to the mainstream media.”
Leavitt, who was the assistant White House press secretary during President Trump’s first term, added “we’ve seen this game before. The secretary is doing a tremendous job and the president stands strongly behind him.”
The previously undisclosed Signal chat titled “Defense | Team Huddle” was created by Hegseth in January and contained 13 members, according to the Times. The chat was mostly used for scheduling or administrative matters, and did not discuss sensitive military operations, sources told the newspaper.
The chat had reportedly included senior Pentagon adviser Dan Caldwell and Deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick.
Caldwell and Selnick, along with Colin Carroll—a former chief of staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg—had worked as senior Pentagon aides before they were fired last week under accusations of leaking information without authorization.
A memo signed by Joe Kasper, Hegseth’s chief of staff, dated March 21, requested a probe into what Kasper called “recent unauthorized disclosures of national security information involving sensitive communications.”
The three former aides said in a joint statement on Friday they were “incredibly disappointed by the manner in which our service at the Department of Defense ended,” and claimed anonymous Pentagon officials “slandered our character with baseless attacks on our way out the door.”
“We still have not been told what exactly we were investigated for, if there is still an active investigation, or if there was even a real investigation of ‘leaks’ to begin with,” the statement read.
A spokesperson for the Pentagon pushed back on the latest Signal allegations.
“Another day, another old story—back from the dead. The Trump-hating media continues to be obsessed with destroying anyone committed to President Trump’s agenda,” Department of Defense spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement, Sunday.
“This time, the New York Times—and all other Fake News that repeat their garbage—are enthusiastically taking the grievances of disgruntled former employees as the sole sources for their article. They relied only on the words of people who were fired this week and appear to have a motive to sabotage the Secretary and the President’s agenda.”
Parnell added: “There was no classified information in any Signal chat, no matter how many ways they try to write the story. What is true is that the Office of the Secretary of Defense is continuing to become stronger and more efficient in executing President Trump’s agenda. We’ve already achieved so much for the American warfighter, and will never back down.”
Hegseth was asked about the SignalGate controversy during the White House Easter Egg Roll, Monday, and told reporters he has spoken to President Trump and they’re “on the same page all the way.”
“What a big surprise,” the defense secretary said. “A few leakers get fired and suddenly a bunch of hit pieces come out from the same media that peddled the Russia hoax, won’t give back their Pulitzers—they got Pulitzers for a bunch of lies and hoaxes, time and time again—This is what the media does. They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations.”
He added: “Not going to work with me.”
Trump tried to put the matter at rest when asked about SignalGate during the White House Easter Egg Roll.
“He’s doing a great job—ask the Houthis how he’s doing, Trump told reporters.
“Everybody’s happy with him, we have the highest recruitment numbers we’ve had in 28 years,” he added, calling the brouhaha “just fake news.”
“Sounds like disgruntled employees. He was put there to get rid of a lot of bad people,” Trump added. “That’s what he’s doing. You don’t always have friends when you do that.”
Update:
Leavitt slammed a National Public Radio “exclusive” report Monday afternoon, that claims Trump has begun looking for someone to replace Hegseth with.
“The White House has begun the process of looking for a new secretary of defense, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly,” NPR reported.
“This @NPR story is total FAKE NEWS based on one anonymous source who clearly has no idea what they are talking about,” Trump’s press secretary responded on X. “As the President said this morning, he stands strongly behind @SecDef.”
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