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...

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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...

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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...

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40 h. ago A pig’s head and decapitated rats: a new era of intimidation dawns for journalists in Indonesia

Grisly gifts a worrying turn for press freedom in world’s third-largest democracyWarning: some readers may find an image in this story distressingWhen a large box arrived at the office with her name on it, Indonesian investigative journalist Francisca Christy Rosana assumed a friend had sent her a package.Instead, it contained a stinking, mutilated pigs head. Continue reading...

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43 h. ago Previous administrations were wary of the messaging app Signal. Trumpworld has embraced it

Amid the furor over the use of a commercial messaging app to discuss a military strike, the Trump administration has insisted that using Signal is routine and authorized. But former and current officials disagree. Andrew Feinberg reports

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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

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3 d. ago US spies issued warning WEEKS AGO about Signal messaging app security fears and potential leaks

America's National Security Agency warned against mis-use of the Signal app last month - weeks before US President Donald Trump's top people sparked the notorious 'chatgate' attack plans scandal

Events

3 d. ago What the accidentally leaked war group chat reveals about the Trump administration | Moira Donegan

Thanks to the Signal leaks, we can see how the administration acts when they think they are in private. It’s not a pretty sightPerhaps one of the greatest lessons of the Donald Trump era, for me, has been in learning the difference between being shocked and being surprised. And indeed it was a bit shocking to learn, via an essay published by the Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, that a high-profile journalist had been included on a chat on the commercial messaging app in which a military strike on the Houthi rebels in Yemen was coordinated – including discussions of the timing of the attack, debates about political messaging, personnel coordination and weapons to be used – seemingly without anyone noticing that he was there.It was shocking that their incompetence was so fortuitous – that the person they included, seemingly accidentally, in their unsecured group chat about war plans was someone so uniquely equipped to broadcast their idiocy to a large audience. But it was ...

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3 d. ago Newly shared Signal messages show Trump advisers discussed Yemen attack plans

The Atlantic releases more text from chat after Trump officials claimed none of it was ‘classified information’US politics live – latest updatesThe Atlantic magazine has published fresh messages from a group chat including top US officials where they discuss operational details of plans to bomb Yemen.The initial revelations by the magazine and its editor, Jeffrey Goldberg, who was accidentally added to the chat on the messaging app Signal, have sparked a huge outcry in the US, with the Trump administration facing withering attacks over the disastrous leak of sensitive information. Continue reading...

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3 d. ago Urgent warning to Pentagon staff to stop using Signal over fears Russian hackers can infiltrate encrypted chats

The OpSec (Operational Security) Special Bulletin, reportedly issued on March 18, came just days after the Trump administration mistakenly leaked war plans to a journalist

Events

3 d. ago US security breach: Mike Waltz admits 'full responsibility' for leaked war texts saga

The US security breach raised concern and questions on Tuesday as messages were leaked off app Signal after Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic magazine editor-in-chief, was added to a group chat

Events

3 d. ago Mike Waltz claims ‘full responsibility’ for Signal chat group leaked to journalist

Trump adviser says he can’t explain how Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg’s number was included in the group chatDonald Trump’s national security adviser, Michael Waltz, said on Tuesday he takes “full responsibility” for the group chat of senior administration officials that inadvertently included a journalist and leaked highly sensitive information about planned airstrikes in Yemen.Waltz’s comments came one day after Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief of the Atlantic, revealed that he was added to a group on Signal, a private messaging app, that included vice-president JD Vance, defense secretary Pete Hegseth, secretary of state Marco Rubio and other high-profile figures discussing “operational details” of planned attacks on the Houthis in Yemen. Continue reading...

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3 d. ago The Guardian view on the Signal war plans leak: a US security breach speaks volumes | Editorial

A staggering blunder points to the wider failings of the careless and amateurish Trump administrationIt is jaw-dropping that senior Trump administration figures would accidentally leak war plans to a journalist. But the fundamental issue is that 18 high-ranking individuals were happy discussing extremely sensitive material on a private messaging app, highlighting the administration’s extraordinary amateurishness, recklessness and unaccountability.The visceral hostility to Europe spelt out again by the vice-president, JD Vance, was glaring. So was the indifference to the potential civilian cost of the strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, designed to curb attacks on Red Sea shipping. The Houthi-run health ministry said that 53 people including five children and two women were killed. The response by the national security adviser, Michael Waltz, to the attacks was to post emojis: a fist, an American flag and fire. The lack of contrition for this security breach is also telling...

Events

3 d. ago Democrats demand answers over White House’s ‘careless’ Signal blunder

Senators interrogate US intelligence community after Atlantic editor was added to group chat on Yemen war plansUS politics live – latest updatesDemocratic senators demanded answers from leaders of the US intelligence community on Tuesday on how the top editor of the Atlantic was added to a group chat discussing airstrikes in Yemen, arguing that the “sloppy, careless” leak put national security at risk.The unusual story broke on Monday, when the Atlantic published a piece by its editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, who said he had been added to the group on the messaging app Signal, and watched as accounts that appeared to match top Trump administration officials, including Vice-President JD Vance and the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, debated and then coordinated a wave of bombings targeting the Houthis in Yemen. Continue reading...

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4 d. ago Exploitable flaws: what US adversaries could learn from White House security failure

Hostile intelligence agencies are likely to pore over details revealed in chat group planning for Yemen strikesUS politics live – latest updatesThe leak of top US officials’ deliberations over planning for this month’s strikes on the Houthis in Yemen – revealed by a journalist who was accidentally invited to a chat group on the Signal messaging app – will be highly useful for hostile intelligence agencies. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago White House security failure prompts calls for resignations – US politics live

Democratic national committee chair Ken Martin calls on defense secretary to resign; House speaker Mike Johnson signals support for Pete Hegseth and national security adviser Mike WaltzSignal leak reveals depths of Trump administration’s loathing of EuropeHierarchies and the human factor: key takeaways from US security leakThe leak of top US officials’ deliberations over planning for this month’s strikes on the Houthis in Yemen – revealed by a journalist who was accidentally invited to a chat group on the Signal messaging app – will be highly useful for hostile intelligence agencies.Read more on what the security blunder means for the Trump administration: Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago Hierarchies and the human factor: key takeaways from US security leak

Hostile intelligence agencies are likely to pore over details revealed in chat group planning for Yemen strikesUS politics live – latest updatesThe leak of top US officials’ deliberations over planning for this month’s strikes on the Houthis in Yemen – revealed by a journalist who was accidentally invited to a chat group on the Signal messaging app – will be highly useful for hostile intelligence agencies. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago UK has ‘high confidence’ in US security measures despite Yemen group chat breach

The armed forces minister said no UK personnel had been put at risk as a result of US officials using a messaging app to discuss war plans.

Events

4 d. ago Leaked Signal texts in full as Trump team discussed Yemen attack via group chat

The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was accidentally added to the group in the highly-encrypted messaging app, where he became privy to top-secret war plans.

Politics

4 d. ago Whose side ARE they on? Fury at US plot to 'extort' Europe over key global shipping route as extraordinary security bungle reveals Team Trump branding closest allies 'pathetic freeloaders'

A bombshell exchange on the Signal messaging app - accidentally shared with a journalist - showed an elite group voicing 'loathing' for their long-term allies.

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