When Pete Hegseth, another star Fox News personality, mentioned classified military operations in Yemen. As this conversation unfolded on a Signal text thread, it garnered a surprising amount of discussion and interest. This secure messaging platform is typically used for personal confidential communications. It inadvertently added Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor in chief of “The Atlantic,” which opens up serious dangers to the security of military sensitive information.
On March 15, Hegseth was routed classified military plans over a secure government line. He had to hurry to post these facts in a Signal group chat. Within ten minutes, news had reached 13 other participants—his wife, brother, and senior military leaders among them. The important piece of disclosure received sharp criticism and concern about the manner in which this sensitive information was handled.
During an appearance on Fox News, Hegseth defended his actions, asserting that the messages shared were “informal, unclassified coordinations, for media coordination and other things.” He attributed the leak to former Pentagon employees, stating, “Once a leaker, always a leaker, often a leaker.” His statements were an attempt to obfuscate what was truly at stake in sharing our military playbook in such a cavalier fashion.
Trump has gone to bat for Hegseth publicly during this still-unfolding situation. On Monday, Trump took to Twitter to congratulate Hegseth on the ratings, claiming he is “doing a great job” and bashing the competition. He praised Hegseth’s work for bringing “monumental change to the Pentagon.” Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt advanced this idea and defended Hegseth from mainstream backlash. She mentioned, “There’s a lot of people in the city who reject monumental change, and I think, frankly, that’s why we’ve seen a smear campaign against the Secretary of Defense.”
In fact, as NBC News reported Hegseth’s military plans were originally meant for policy discussions at the highest level. Such plans were intended to remain secret. Her addition to the Signal thread was a violation of protocols that govern informal, sensitive communication and raised concerns.
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