President Donald Trump has come under fire after it emerged on Monday that senior officials in his administration, including National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Vice President JD Vance, reportedly discussed a highly sensitive operation aimed at targeting Houthi positions in Yemen in a Signal group chat to which Jeffrey Goldberg, the Editor-in-Chief of The Atlantic, was added by mistake.
Asked about the staggering security breach, Trump said that he backs Waltz despite calls for his resignation, saying he has “learned his lesson” over the fiasco.
Hegseth has meanwhile called Goldberg a “deceitful and highly discredited so-called journalist” but he too is facing calls to step down from Democrats, who have branded the scandal “a major screw-up.”
Particularly incensed was former U.S. secretary of state and first lady Hillary Clinton, whom Trump repeatedly threatened to jail for allegedly using a private email account while in office, who responded by saying simply: “You have got to be kidding me.”
Two members of the group chat, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe are currently appearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee to discuss worldwide threats and will be grilled on the leak.
India preps import tax cuts on U.S. goods to avoid Trump’s reciprocal tariffs
India is considering cutting tariffs on more than half of U.S. imports worth $23 billion in the initial phase of a trade deal that the two countries are negotiating, according to two government sources who spoke to Reuters.
This would represent the largest reduction in years, designed to ward off reciprocal tariffs from the Trump administration.
The South Asian nation aims to lessen the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s retaliatory global tariffs scheduled to take effect on April 2, a threat that has shaken markets and left policymakers in a scramble, even among Western allies.
In an internal assessment, New Delhi projected that these reciprocal tariffs would affect 87% of its total exports to the United States, valued at $66 billion, according to two government sources familiar with the details.
As part of the deal, India is willing to lower tariffs on 55% of U.S. goods it imports, currently subjected to tariffs ranging from 5% to 30%, said both sources, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
In this category of goods, India is prepared to “significantly” reduce tariffs or even eliminate some entirely on imported goods valued at over $23 billion from the United States, one of the sources indicated.
Patel says no update on whether FBI investigating Signal group chat
FBI Director Kash Patel says he was only recently briefed on the Signal group chat matter and doesn’t have an update on whether the FBI has launched an investigation into it.
Senator Mark Warner asks for an update by the end of the day.
Gabbard insists no classified material shared in Signalgate group chat
Senator Mark Warner asked Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard if she participated in the group chat.
“I don’t want to get into specifics…” she replied.
Warner asked: “You are not TG in this group chat?”
Gabbard replied: “I’m not going to get into the specifics… because this is currently under review by the National Security Council.”
She also said that there was no classified material shared in the group chat, to which Warner responded: “If there was no classified material, share it with the committee. You can’t have it both ways.”
“Senator, I was on a Signal messaging group,” CIA Director John Ratcliffe tells Warner, confirming he was in the group chat disclosed by The Atlantic yesterday.
Ratcliffe says he was briefed by the CIA about the use of Signal “as a permissible work use.”
“My communications were entirely permissible and lawful and did not include classified information,” Ratcliffe says.
Watch their exchange here:
Internet laughs at ‘cringe’ music video that celebrates Elon Musk
An Elon Musk superfan has created a music video filmed on the back of a Tesla Cybertruck that celebrates the billionaire’s “master plan to save our lives.”
Alessandra Basher, who describes herself as a stay-at-home mom who “dreams” of becoming a stand-up comedian, has been mocked online for the video branded the “most cringe thing on the internet right now.”
Rhian Lubin watched so that you don’t have to, but obviously do if you want a good laugh.
Watch: Democrat warns Signal fiasco is ‘not a one-off’ but part of pattern
Democratic Senator Mark Warner says in his opening remarks at the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing regarding the Signal group chat story: “It’s also just mind-boggling to me… nobody bothered to even check… who are all the names… this is one more example of the kind of sloppy, careless, incompetent behavior…”
“The Signal fiasco is not a one-off. It is, unfortunately, a pattern we see too often repeated… these actions make America less safe.”
Senate Democrats want eight questions answered about Trump admin Signal group chat
Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, and 13 of his Senate colleagues sent a letter to President Donald Trump demanding answers about several Cabinet officials’ accidental adding of a reporter to an unsecured group chat where secret, high-level military planning was occurring, in violation of security protocols and potentially in violation of the law.
In the letter, the group of senators demanded answers from the Trump Administration to the following:
- What disciplinary action will be taken against those involved in the “Houthi PC small group” Signal chain? Will you revoke their security clearances? What security training had they received?
- What remedial action was taken to limit damage following this disclosure?
- What other sensitive military operations have been coordinated by your administration via Signal?
- Please confirm whether or not the lives of servicemembers were placed at risk due to this carelessness and whether other operations or sources were impacted.
- Are you aware of ongoing efforts by our adversaries, including China, Russia, and Iran, to target unclassified devices used by senior Administration officials, and can you confirm that China, Russia, Iran or other adversaries did not have access to any of the classified or sensitive information shared in this group chat?
- Will you comply with the Presidential Records Act and provide the text of the “Houthi PC small group” Signal chain for appropriate handling and preservation?
- What remedial training regarding the handling of classified and sensitive military information will be provided to all who participated in the “Houthi PC small group” Signal chain?
- What other training will be provided to members of the executive branch who handle classified information to ensure that it is understood that classified materials should not be shared over Signal?
In addition to Kaine, the letter was signed by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Gary C. Peters (D-MI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
Elon Musk weighs in on Trump admin Signal leak
White House National Security adviser Mike Waltz mistakenly invited The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to an encrypted chat including secret war plans just days before a wave of air strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, it was revealed on Monday.
The 18 national security and cabinet officials—including Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth—have been criticizedfor the security lapse from both sides of the aisle.
James Liddell reports.
Watch LIVE: Senate committee grills intelligence chiefs amid Signalgate controversy
White House doubles down on support for Waltz after Signal fiasco
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has doubled down on the assertion that President Donald Trump has confidence in Mike Waltz, his national security adviser, after yesterday’s embarrassing revelations regarding the group chat on Signal.
She tweeted: “As I said yesterday, the President continues to have confidence in his national security team, including Mike Waltz.”
“Stories claiming otherwise are driven by anonymous sources who clearly do not speak to the President, and written by reporters who are thirsty for a ‘scoop.’”
Source: independent.co.uk