"It's all a witch hunt" Trump defends Pentagon chief Hegseth over signals affair
US Secretary of Defense Hegseth has increasingly come under fire in the secret chat affair. (archive image)
Image: dpa
US President Trump comes to Hegseth's defense.
Image: dpa
The editor-in-chief of the US magazine "Atlantic", Jeffrey Goldberg, was invited - probably by mistake - to a group chat with high-ranking members of the government.
Image: dpa
Ratcliffe distances himself from Hegseth.
Image: dpa
US Secretary of Defense Hegseth has increasingly come under fire in the secret chat affair. (archive image)
Image: dpa
US President Trump comes to Hegseth's defense.
Image: dpa
The editor-in-chief of the US magazine "Atlantic", Jeffrey Goldberg, was invited - probably by mistake - to a group chat with high-ranking members of the government.
Image: dpa
Ratcliffe distances himself from Hegseth.
Image: dpa
Pete Hegseth shared explosive information about a commercially operated app. He says: "I know exactly what I'm doing." Some are not so sure. But his boss Trump comes to his defense.
27.03.2025, 21:41
dpa
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is coming under increasing pressure over the chat affair.
- Hegseth is said to have disclosed secret military plans via an insecure channel.
- It can be seen that some members of the government are trying to distance themselves from the Minister of Defense.
- US President Trump defends his minister and simply claims that he has nothing to do with the affair.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is coming under increasing pressure in the affair surrounding an explosive secret US government chat. Following the publication of the entire chat history relating to a US military strike against the Houthi militia in Yemen, the Pentagon chief is vehemently defending himself against the accusation that he disclosed secret military plans via an insecure channel and thus also put US soldiers in danger.
Hegseth argued that he had not disclosed any critical information. US President Donald Trump defended his minister and simply claimed that he had nothing to do with the affair.
The background: The editor-in-chief of the US magazine "Atlantic", Jeffrey Goldberg, was invited - probably by mistake - by Trump's National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz, to a group chat with senior members of the government in mid-March. An imminent US military strike against the Houthi militia in Yemen was discussed there. The journalist was able to read the sensitive information live on the commercially operated app Signal and later publicized the security breach in an article.
Sensitive details about the timing and weapon systems of the attacks
After the Trump administration denied all allegations in the case and questioned Goldberg's integrity, the magazine finally published the entire chat history - including screenshots. It also contains a passage in which Hegseth shared sensitive military information.
According to this, shortly before the military strike against Huthi militia positions, the Pentagon chief revealed detailed information on the timetable, the sequence of bombing and the weapons systems used, such as the F-18 fighter jet - while a journalist was able to read everything. This caused great outrage and fueled concerns about US national security. Normally, such sensitive information is only shared in specially protected government systems, not via generally accessible apps such as Signal, which are far more susceptible to potential hacking and espionage attacks.
"He has nothing to do with it"
Hegseth, however, dismissed the new revelations as irrelevant and argued that he had not spread any "war plans". He had posted "no locations, no routes, no flight paths, no sources, no methods, no secret information" in the group. He had merely informed the government team in real time and kept them up to date. That was his job.
Trump came to his aid. When asked by a reporter whether Hegseth should consider resigning, the US President replied: "Hegseth is doing a great job. He has nothing to do with this. This is all a witch hunt." Trump rejected the accusation of playing down the affair and replied: "The media is blowing it out of proportion." The actions against the Huthi militia were "incredibly successful" - the media should report on this, he warned.
Democrats, experts and ex-soldiers are outraged
The president also tried to portray the misstep of his security adviser Waltz, who accidentally brought a journalist into the group chat, as a technical glitch with the Signal app. "There could be a problem with the platform," Trump said. "If there's a problem with a platform, nobody should be using it." Perhaps Signal is simply "not very good".
However, Democrats and security experts are complaining about a breach of taboo: they argue that passing on such specific information about an imminent military strike via a messaging service that does not meet the security standards for the exchange of confidential data has endangered the lives of the soldiers involved. Former soldiers also expressed anger and incomprehension on social media.
Colleagues keep their distance
It remains to be seen whether the dramatic security breach will ultimately have political consequences. However, it is clear that some members of the government are trying to distance themselves from the Minister of Defense.
Intelligence Coordinator Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe - both also part of the group chat - had to face uncomfortable questions from the Democratic opposition for the second day in a row at a congressional hearing. One of the topics was the conditions under which information is considered confidential - and whether Hegseth's messages may have crossed this threshold.
Gabbard emphasized that she had not been involved in the now published part of the communication and pointed out that she was not familiar with the Department of Defense's confidentiality guidelines in detail. Ratcliffe, on the other hand, had already emphasized the day before that he himself had not shared any confidential information. However, he left open whether this also applied to other members of the chat group.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the inadvertent inclusion of a journalist in the chat group as a "big mistake". Trump's security advisor Waltz bears responsibility for this - and not Hegseth. However, when asked whether classified information had actually been disclosed in the chat, Rubio also referred to the Pentagon.
Doubts about Hegseth's suitability
Hegseth, who as Secretary of Defense is responsible for the world's most powerful armed forces, a budget of around 800 billion dollars as well as key armaments projects and security policy decisions, was one of the most controversial figures in Trump's cabinet from the outset. He became known in the USA as a presenter on the Trump-affiliated Fox News channel. He had almost no political experience.
Following his nomination for the post, reports emerged of alleged racist and sexist comments, alcohol abuse and sexual assault - allegations that he denies. In the US Senate, there were also reservations against him from the Republican ranks and his confirmation only narrowly passed in the House of Representatives.
Hegseth now sought to dispel new doubts about his suitability for the important office. When asked about the affair during a trip, he responded almost flippantly and said: "I know exactly what I'm doing."
