7 h. ago The Signal chat exposes the administration’s incompetence – and its pecking order | Sidney Blumenthal

The discussion revealed unserious people who don’t know when to keep quiet, with Stephen Miller as the real bossOn 13 March, Donald Trump’s national security adviser, Michael Waltz, who was the policy director for two secretaries of defense and was a member of the House intelligence committee, sent a message on the commercial Signal app: “Team – establishing a principles group for coordination on Houthis, particularly for over the next 72 hours.” “The Houthis PC small group” would oversee a US air attack on the Houthis in Yemen.Despite Waltz’s extensive professional background, he misspelled “principals” as “principles” – perhaps an ordinary typo, but symptomatic of the shambles to come. Although the secretaries of defense, state and treasury, the director of national intelligence, the CIA director, the vice-president, and the president’s chief of staff were among the 18 people included, neither the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, who is a statutory member of the principals comm...

Politics

25 h. ago Kimmel on ‘Signalgate’: ‘A perfect storm of incompetence, inexperience, dishonesty and hypocrisy’

Late-night hosts discuss JD Vance’s trip Greenland and official efforts to downplay sending war plans to a journalistLate-night hosts talked the Trump administration’s attempts to deflect from the Signal group chat leak, Mike Waltz’s public Venmo and JD Vance’s unwanted visit to Greenland. Continue reading...

Events

29 h. ago New York Times reporter reveals reason Trump won’t fire Mike Waltz

White House Correspondent Maggie Haberman tells CNN that Trump ‘does not want to fire’ officials involved in the Signal group chat leak

Politics

30 h. ago Donald Trump moves to end union rights for many government agency employees – US politics live

White House signs executive order limiting numerous federal workers from unionisingTrump news at a glance: judge orders now-infamous Signal chat be retainedFor beleaguered and divided congressional Democrats desperate to find an effective line of attack against Donald Trump, news that the US president’s national security team discussed plans to bomb Yemen on a widely available messaging app in the presence of a journalist came at just the right time.The leak has put the White House and the Republicans on the defensive, generated multiple days of aggressive media coverage and forced top officials to publicly twist themselves in knots as they seek to explain – or downplay – the blunder. Continue reading...

Politics

31 h. ago The Signal fiasco is a political gift to Democrats but their power is limited

The ball now appears to be in the Republicans’ court, where there have been some signs of diverging from TrumpFor beleaguered and divided congressional Democrats desperate to find an effective line of attack against Donald Trump, news that the US president’s national security team discussed plans to bomb Yemen on a widely available messaging app in the presence of a journalist came at just the right time.The leak has put the White House and the Republicans on the defensive, generated multiple days of aggressive media coverage and forced top officials to publicly twist themselves in knots as they seek to explain – or downplay – the blunder. Continue reading...

Politics

41 h. ago Judge orders participants in Signal chat group blunder to preserve all messages

Restraining order was issued to ensure that records of Yemen attack group conversation are retainedA federal judge on Thursday ordered that the Trump administration preserve all Signal messages exchanged in the now-infamous Signal group chat in which officials conducted a high-level military operation on the unclassified commercial app and inadvertently included a journalist.The temporary restraining order from James Boasberg, the chief US district judge in Washington, compelled defense secretary Pete Hegseth, secretary of state Marco Rubio, treasury secretary Scott Bessent, CIA director John Ratcliffe and the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, to save their texts from 11 to 15 March. Continue reading...

Events

43 h. ago Signal group chat leak: judge orders Trump administration to preserve all messages from 11

James Boasberg, who has been attacked by Trump for being assigned to the case, reminded hearing that cases are assigned randomlyTop aides to Joe Biden “aggressively” warned Democratic donors last summer that if the then president was forced out of the 2024 election over concerns about his age and fitness, the party would inevitably make the “mistake” of running the vice-president, Kamala Harris, against Donald Trump, a new book says.“One donor on the receiving end of an electronic message summed up the sentiments of Biden’s top aides: ‘They were aggressively saying that we would wind up with the vice-president and that would be a mistake.’” Continue reading...

Politics

48 h. ago Bondi signals probe into Signal chat is unlikely, despite a long history of similar inquiries

FBI Director Kash Patel may not have been part of a Signal chat in which other Trump administration national security officials discussed detailed attack plans

Politics

48 h. ago Senators demand Pentagon investigates Signal leak scandal in bipartisan letter

Top Republican and Democrat on Senate armed services committee urge inspector general to launch inquiryThe Republican chair and the ranking Democrat on the Senate armed services committee have written to the acting watchdog of the Department of Defense to demand an investigation into the scandal over how a senior American journalist was added to a Signal app group chat in which top government figures shared details of US airstrikes in Yemen at the weekend.Addressing Steven Stebbins, the acting inspector general at the Pentagon, the senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the committee chair, and the Democratic senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island wrote: “On 11 March 2025, Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of the Atlantic, was reportedly included on a group chat on the commercially available communications application called Signal, which included members of the National Security Council.” Continue reading...

Events

49 h. ago Who is Jeffrey Goldberg, the journalist who broke the Signal leak scandal?

Atlantic editor-in-chief added to a White House group chat discussing strike plans has history of serving in the Israeli military – and angering TrumpThough exactly how Jeffrey Goldberg ended up on a Signal group chat to discuss what were meant to be secret plans to bomb Yemen remains a mystery, posterity may render it one of recent US history’s most serendipitous chance encounters.Had the fates been conspiring to add a journalist to the forum whose presence would inflict the maximum discomfort to Trump and his circle, they could hardly have chosen a more fitting candidate. Continue reading...

Politics

49 h. ago Bipartisan letter to Pentagon inspector general implores investigation into Signal group chat leak – live

Republican chair and ranking Democrat on Senate armed services committee demand inquiry over leaked Signal communications Top aides to Joe Biden “aggressively” warned Democratic donors last summer that if the then president was forced out of the 2024 election over concerns about his age and fitness, the party would inevitably make the “mistake” of running the vice-president, Kamala Harris, against Donald Trump, a new book says.“One donor on the receiving end of an electronic message summed up the sentiments of Biden’s top aides: ‘They were aggressively saying that we would wind up with the vice-president and that would be a mistake.’” Continue reading...

Events

50 h. ago Americans think Signal blunder is as big a deal as Hillary Clinton’s use of private email server: Poll

Americans view the Signal leak in as bad a light as Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server during her time as Secretary of State

Economics

50 h. ago The Signal chat leak raises questions about accountability in Trump’s cabinet

High-ranking officials can spill military secrets with apparent near-total immunityUS politics live – latest news updatesThe problem with the now infamous Signal chat read around the world is not just that sensitive military-operations details were broadcast, but that this reveals a pattern of what appears to be institutional dishonesty inside the Trump administration and the legal ramifications that presents.The leak exposes a system of broken accountability, where high-ranking officials can spill military secrets with apparent near-total immunity. Despite potential violations of classification protocols, federal record-keeping laws and promises of operational security, the leaders look to face no meaningful legal consequences. Continue reading...

Politics

51 h. ago The Trump team group chat news is obscuring an essential question | Mohamad Bazzi

Amid outrage over sharing military details, we’re forgetting to scrutinize why the US is bombing Yemen in the first placeThe revelation that top members of Donald Trump’s administration disclosed top-secret US military plans against the Houthi militia in Yemen in a private group chat that included a prominent journalist has generated predictable outrage in Washington. Democrats are calling for a congressional investigation and the resignation of some of the officials involved in the breach, including the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, and the national security adviser, Mike Waltz.In an article published on Monday, the Atlantic magazine’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, outlined how he was able to follow the conversation among members of Trump’s cabinet over two days leading up to a series of US airstrikes on 15 March. But in the widespread outrage over the sharing of military information on a Signal chat, one essential question is getting lost: why is Trump bombing Yemen in the...

Politics

51 h. ago Mike Waltz faces new scrutiny over public Venmo account after Signal chat blunder – live

National security adviser’s Venmo account reveals journalists, lobbyists and military personnel, Wired reportsTop aides to Joe Biden “aggressively” warned Democratic donors last summer that if the then president was forced out of the 2024 election over concerns about his age and fitness, the party would inevitably make the “mistake” of running the vice-president, Kamala Harris, against Donald Trump, a new book says.“One donor on the receiving end of an electronic message summed up the sentiments of Biden’s top aides: ‘They were aggressively saying that we would wind up with the vice-president and that would be a mistake.’” Continue reading...

Politics

52 h. ago Keir Starmer 'walking a perilous tightrope' as Donald Trump situation 'could explode in his face'

War plans were leaked to the editor-in-chief of the Atlantic magazine in a Signal messaging app chat - but the UK Government hasn't strongly condemned the glaring security lapse

Politics

53 h. ago Donald Trump faces 'massive loss of authority' after 'total lies' in leaked war messages scandal

The Atlantic magazine editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was minding his own business when he received an invite into a Signal messaging chat where secret war plans were being discussed by the key players in Donald Trump's team

Politics

55 h. ago The real problem with the Signal chat leak is it shows systemic dishonesty

High-ranking officials can spill military secrets with apparent near-total immunity and no accountabilityUS politics live – latest news updatesThe problem with the now infamous Signal chat read around the world is not just that sensitive military-operations details were broadcast, but that this reveals a pattern of what appears to be institutional dishonesty inside the Trump administration and the legal ramifications that presents.The leak exposes a system of broken accountability, where high-ranking officials can spill military secrets with apparent near-total immunity. Despite potential violations of classification protocols, federal record-keeping laws and promises of operational security, the leaders look to face no meaningful legal consequences. Continue reading...

Politics

57 h. ago Let's put it in language the Signal leakers will understand: what a bunch of pathetic sleazebags | Emma Brockes

The leaking of top-level military secrets was bad enough, but I’m obsessed with Maga’s fratboy lexiconThe Maga-fication of American political discourse, which started, arguably, with Donald Trump mocking a disabled reporter in 2015, peaked this week with news of Pete Hegseth referring to European countries in the leaked Signal chat as “PATHETIC”, and enjoyed a detour last Tuesday when Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota and former running mate of Kamala Harris, appeared at a town hall in Wisconsin and called Elon Musk “a dipshit”. (This is not the first time he has referred to Musk this way. Right before the election last year, Walz told a crowd: “Look, Elon’s on that stage, jumping around, skipping like a dipshit.”)Parking for a moment the perfection of the phrase “skipping like a dipshit” to capture Musk’s very particular style of movement and speech, the range of what can and can’t be said in politics has clearly, radically changed. When you look back on the phrase that caused Hi...

Politics

57 h. ago The Atlantic journalist at centre of Trump team's leak scandal breaks silence in bombshell interview

Jeffrey Goldberg scored a huge scoop when senior White House officials invited him into their Signal group chat, where they were discussing plans for striking the Houthi rebels in Yemen

Politics