President Donald Trump is standing by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after revelations that Hegseth shared sensitive details about U.S. military operations in Yemen in a second private Signal group chat that included his wife, brother, and personal lawyer.
The latest incident centers on a Signal chat group created during Hegseth’s confirmation process, reportedly intended for administrative discussions. However, messages sent on March 15 included flight schedules for U.S. F/A-18 Hornets conducting strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen. Participants in the group included Hegseth’s spouse, Jennifer (a former Fox News producer with no official Pentagon role), his brother Phil (a Department of Homeland Security liaison), and his personal attorney, Tim Parlatore.
This disclosure follows a previous incident in which The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was accidentally added to a separate Signal group where Hegseth and top officials discussed sensitive operational details. That earlier chat also sparked scrutiny over the handling of classified information and the use of unclassified messaging platforms for military planning.
This information has also fueled reports from NPR and CBS that the White House may be considering a replacement for Hegseth—potentially Ron Desantis—a claim the administration vehemently denies.
Despite mounting criticism and calls from some lawmakers, including Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), for Hegseth’s removal, President Trump and the White House have issued strong statements of support. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday, “the president stands strongly behind Secretary Hegseth” and said Hegseth “is doing a phenomenal job leading the Pentagon.”
“The administration and the president have taken a very strong stance against anyone who leaks, especially sensitive and classified information that can put our troops and our war fighters at risk,” Leavitt said on Fox. “And you’ve seen the secretary has taken very strong action to rein in the leakers at the Pentagon and he will continue to do so I’m sure.”
Trump, speaking after the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, praised Hegseth’s performance:
“Here we go again. Just a waste of time. He is doing a great job,” Trump said of Hegseth.
Hegseth, for his part, has dismissed the controversy as the product of “anonymous smears” from “disgruntled” former employees and insisted that he remains “on the same page all the way” with the president.
“They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees, and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations,” Hegseth told reporters. “Not going to work with me, because we’re changing the Defense Department, putting the Pentagon back in the hands of war fighters and anonymous smears from disgruntled former employees on old news doesn’t matter.”
