Trump Team Rushes to Contain Fallout Over Signal Chat Labeled ‘Sloppy, Careless’

Meanwhile, Democrats urged top officials to resign over what they called a security lapse.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, both participants in the chat, testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee, stating that no classified material was shared in the discussion, which took place on Signal, an encrypted messaging app.

However, Democratic senators expressed skepticism, citing a report from The Atlantic’s Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg, which stated that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had posted details about planned strikes against Yemen. The report alleged that Hegseth disclosed information on targets, weapons the US would deploy, and attack sequencing.

Committee members announced plans to audit the exchange, a move that Gabbard and Ratcliffe agreed to. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the Senate Armed Services Committee was also expected to investigate the Trump administration’s use of Signal for official communications.

Trump Defends National Security Team

President Donald Trump, when asked about the incident during a White House event on Tuesday with National Security Adviser Michael Waltz—the official who mistakenly added Goldberg to the chat—voiced support for his team.

Trump said the administration would review the use of Signal but did not believe Waltz should apologize. He suggested the team was unlikely to use the app again. Later, in an interview with Newsmax, he indicated that a lower-level staffer may have been responsible for adding Goldberg to the chat.

Waltz, speaking on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle, took responsibility for the incident, acknowledging he had created the group chat. However, he maintained that no classified information was shared.

"This is embarrassing," Waltz said, adding that the administration would "get to the bottom" of how the journalist was mistakenly included. He noted that Goldberg’s number was not saved in his phone and said he was unsure how the error occurred.

‘Breach of Sensitive Information’

During the Senate hearing, Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff grew frustrated after Ratcliffe repeatedly answered, "I don’t recall," when questioned about the chat’s content.

"Director Ratcliffe, surely you prepared for this hearing today," Ossoff said. "You are part of a group of principals, senior echelons of the US government, and now a widely publicized breach of sensitive information."

Some Republican lawmakers also demanded further clarification. Senator Todd Young said he planned to seek additional answers in a closed hearing later on Tuesday. "It appears to me there are some unanswered questions," the Indiana Republican said.

A former US official told Reuters that operational military details are typically classified and restricted to a small group at the Pentagon. Such top-secret information is generally stored on secure networks rather than discussed over commercial messaging apps.

National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes confirmed on Monday that the chat group appeared to be legitimate. He noted that sensitive information should not be shared on commercial mobile apps and that Signal’s auto-delete function could violate government record-keeping laws.

"This is one more example of the kind of sloppy, careless, incompetent behavior, particularly toward classified information ... of this administration," said Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat.

Security Concerns and White House Response

Goldberg reported that accounts linked to Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Hegseth, Ratcliffe, Gabbard, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and senior National Security Council officials were part of the chat group.

Gabbard acknowledged she was abroad at the time but declined to confirm whether she had used a private phone.

The White House sought to downplay the situation. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt accused Goldberg of sensationalizing the story in a post on social media platform X. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung dismissed concerns over the inclusion of a journalist in a war-planning chat as "faux outrage."

Hegseth told reporters on Monday that no war plans had been shared. However, Goldberg, speaking on CNN, called that claim "a lie."

The reason officials opted for Signal over secure government channels remained unclear.

"Signal has a stellar reputation and is widely used and trusted in the security community," said Rocky Cole, a cybersecurity expert at iVerify, a firm specializing in mobile security.

"The risk of discussing highly sensitive national security information on Signal isn't so much that Signal itself is insecure," Cole explained. "It’s the fact that nation-state threat actors have a demonstrated ability to remotely compromise entire mobile phones. If the phone itself isn’t secure, all the Signal messages on that device can be read."

Republican Representative Don Bacon, a retired Air Force general and member of the House Armed Services Committee, said Hegseth needed to take responsibility for the apparent security breach, which he warned could endanger lives.

Asked about the claim that no classified information was shared, Bacon replied, "They ought to just be honest and own up to it."