Washington, DC – The Atlantic magazine has released new messages from a group chat involving top US officials discussing operational details of plans to bomb Yemen. This comes after rebuttals from Donald Trump and other administration figures claiming the information was not classified. The messages provided insight into discussions among Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, who denied texting war plans, and top intelligence officials.
During an intelligence committee hearing, Democrats accused the government of dishonesty and sought an explanation as to why operational military plans were not considered classified information. The Signal group chat messages revealed details of US bombings, drone launches, weather conditions, specific weapons, and other information relevant to the assault. The Atlantic highlighted a public interest in disclosing such information, especially as administration figures attempted to downplay the significance of the shared messages.
Republican senators are now calling for an investigation into the Signal scandal as concerns grow that it could become a significant political issue if left unaddressed. Meanwhile, US intelligence chiefs denied allegations of breaking the law or revealing classified information in the chat related to airstrikes on Yemen. Despite Democratic claims of recklessness and potential illegality, the officials maintained their stance.
Amidst the controversy, it was reported by German news magazine Der Spiegel that private data of top security advisers to President Trump, including national security adviser Mike Waltz, defense secretary Pete Hegseth, and director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, could be accessed online. The fallout from the Signal group chat scandal continues as sensitive information is exposed through commercial data-search services and hacked data dumped online.
In other news, President Trump announced plans to impose 25% tariffs on cars from overseas, sparking backlash from Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney who deemed it a direct attack on Canadian workers. Furthermore, the US supreme court upheld a federal regulation targeting ‘ghost guns’, largely untraceable firearms, in a crackdown initiated by the Biden administration. NPR and PBS faced a heated congressional subcommittee hearing, and House Speaker Mike Johnson raised the idea of eliminating federal courts as a response to judicial decisions challenging Trump’s policies.
As the day progressed, a Democrat secured a Pennsylvania state senate seat in a district that heavily favored Trump, a conservative pro-Israel media activist was nominated as US ambassador to South Africa, a US appeals court upheld a block on deportations under an old law, and revelations surfaced about a member of Elon Musk’s ‘department of government efficiency’ team. Additionally, the Department of Health and Human Services canceled around $12 billion in federal grants to states allocated during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In summary, a mix of political controversies, policy decisions, and legal disputes dominated the news cycle on this eventful day in Washington, DC.