US Defence Secretary denies ‘war plans’ discussed in group chat
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has spoken after “war plans” were leaked and slammed the journalist who was inadvertently included.
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US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth was adamant Monday that sensitive “war plans” were not being discussed in a Signal chat group that inadvertently included a journalist.
“Nobody was texting war plans and that’s all I have to say about that,” Hegseth told reporters in Hawaii when asked about a report in The Atlantic revealing a stunning breach of national security involving high-level Trump administration officials.
The editor in chief of the Atlantic magazine was included on a messaging chain in which senior members of the Trump administration — including Vice President JD Vance, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and national security adviser Mike Waltz — discussed strikes against the Houthi terror group in Yemen earlier this month, in a stunning breach of national security.
Jeffrey Goldberg revealed the jaw-dropping mishap Monday in an article headlined The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans.
In the story, Goldberg claimed he connected with Mr Waltz on Signal on March 11 and was invited to join a chain called the “Houthi PC small group” two days later.
The bombs fell across the Middle Eastern country on March 15, with the Trump administration claiming to have “taken out” multiple leaders of the Iran-backed Houthis.
“These were not kind of pinprick, back and forth — what ultimately proved to be feckless attacks,” Mr Waltz told ABC America the following day.
“This was an overwhelming response that actually targeted multiple Houthi leaders and took them out, and the difference here is: one, going after the Houthi leadership, and two, holding Iran responsible.”
Hegseth slammed Goldberg before denying that “war plans” were being discussed in the Signal chain.
“You’re talking about a deceitful and highly discredited so-called journalist who’s made a profession of peddling hoaxes time and time again,” the defence secretary said of The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief.
Hegseth pointed to Goldberg’s reporting on debunked allegations that President Trump’s 2016 campaign colluded with Russia ahead of the election; his article on Trump’s comments about the violence during a 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va.; and his disputed 2020 article accusing Trump of disparaging US troops buried in France as “suckers” and “losers.”
“So this is a guy that pedals in garbage, this is what he does,” the Pentagon chief continued, before discussing the military’s efforts to root out Houthi terrorists in Yemen.
National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes told The New York Post that the Signal chain that included Goldberg “appears to be an authentic message chain, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain.
“The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy co-ordination between senior officials,” Hughes added. “The ongoing success of the Houthi operation demonstrates that there were no threats to troops or national security.”
Other top administration officials on the Signal chat included someone identified only as “MAR,” the same initials as Secretary of State Marco Rubio; CIA director John Ratcliffe; special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff; White House chief of staff Susie Wiles; someone named “SM,” thought to be deputy White House chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller; and someone named “TG,” which Mr Goldberg believed to be Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
2016 Democratic nominee for president, Hillary Clinton, weighed in on the security breach.
“You have got to be kidding me,” she wrote on X.
Chuck Schumer, Leader of the Democrats in the Senate, said it was “one of the most stunning breaches of military intelligence I have read about in a very, very long time”.
He said a “full investigation” was needed to find out “why these military operations were coordinated over an unauthorised messaging service instead of the secure communications channels, funded by taxpayers”.
“What we have here are senior US leaders, including the Vice President and secretary of defence, having classified discussions of military action over an unsecure app.
“If these detailed exchanges about coordinating military operations fell into the hands of America’s enemies, it could get people killed. It could severely harm our military. It would put America’s national security in danger,” Mr Schumer added.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the Senate would “figure it out”.
“We’ve got to run it to ground and figure out what went on there,” he told CNN. “We’ll have a plan.”
But Elon Musk took aim at The Atlantic magazine.
“Best place to hide a dead body is page 2 of The Atlantic magazine, because no one ever goes there,” Mr Musk wrote in a post on X, alongside an article from satirical website The Babylon Bee reading: “4D Chess: Genius Trump Leaks War Plans To ‘The Atlantic’ Where No One Will Ever See Them.”
Musk’s post was reshared by Mr Trump on Truth Social.
TRUMP’S BRUTAL NEW TARIFF
Donald Trump has announced he will impose a 25 per cent tariff on all goods from any country that buys oil or gas from Venezuela, after claiming the South American country has historically shipped violent criminals to the US.
The new tariff will severely impact goods imported to the US by India and China, two of the world’s biggest buyers of Venezuelan oil.
On Monday, US time, Mr Trump posted to his Truth Social account that the 25 per cent tariff on Venezuelan oil was in retaliation to the country “purposefully and deceitfully” sending “tens of thousands of high level, and other, criminals, many of whom are murderers and people of a very violent nature” to the US.
“In addition, Venezuela has been very hostile to the United States and the Freedoms which we espouse. Therefore, any Country that purchases Oil and/or Gas from Venezuela will be forced to pay a Tariff of 25 per cent to the United States on any Trade they do with our Country.”
Meanwhile, US Judge James Boasberg declined to lift a restraining order barring the Trump administration from using the Alien Enemies Act, which is typically used in a wartime context, to deport Venezuelans.
Judge Boasberg said that before alleged gang members and criminals are deported they are entitled to a hearing to determine whether the Act applies to them or not.
TARIFFS TO BE MORE ‘TARGETED’: WHITE HOUSE
The news of the Venezuelan tariffs followed a report that Mr Trump is planning a wave of “targeted” tariffs on April 2, a White House official told AFP, in a move that would possibly reassure businesses and investors.
Mr Trump has dubbed the date “Liberation Day” for the world’s biggest economy, promising reciprocal tariffs set to hit both friend and foe in an effort to remedy practices that Washington deems unfair.
Apart from reciprocal levies, the president also earlier signalled that sector-specific duties hitting industries like automobiles, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors would come around the same day.
Sector-specific tariffs “may or may not happen April 2,” a White House official told AFP, adding that the situation is “still fluid.”
The White House has vowed to impose “big tariffs” on April 2 in a major escalation of Mr Trump’s trade war, saying that “America has been ripped off by every country around the world.”
Last week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business that Washington would go to trading partners with an indication of where tariff levels and non-tariff barriers are.
If countries stopped their practices, Mr Bessent added, they could potentially avoid the “tariff wall.”
Mr Bessent noted that the levies would be focused on about 15 per cent of countries who have trade imbalances with the United States, dubbing these a “dirty 15.”
TRUMP’S FOND REUNION WITH DONALD JR’S FORMER FLAME
There was no awkwardness on show when President Trump welcomed son Donald Jr’s recent former fiancee Kimberly Guilfoyle to the White House.
Ms Guilfoyle was named US ambassador to Greece after she quietly parted ways with Donald Jr who wasted no time in repairing with socialite Bettina Anderson.
Mr Trump described Ms Guilfoyle as a “friend” he had “known a long time” during the Greek Independence Day ceremony on Monday, local time.
“Although she’s very young yet,” the President hastened to add.
Ms Guilfoyle said serving as ambassador was “the honour of my life.”
“And to do it under the guidance , the leadership, the most important powerful President that this country has ever seen,” Ms Guilfoyle said.
‘SECOND-RATE MOVIE STAR’: TRUMP SLAMS CLOONEY
President Trump has gone on a stunning tirade against actor George Clooney after the Hollywood star appeared on America’s 60 Minutes.
Clooney was on the show plug his role as journalist Edward R Murrow in Broadway show Good Night and Good Luck.
He also took the opportunity to draw a parallel between the show and the current political climate.
“When the other three estates fail, when the judiciary and the executive and the legislative branches fail us, the fourth estate has to succeed,” Clooney said.
“ABC (America) has just settled a lawsuit with the Trump administration. And CBS News is in the process … We’re seeing this idea of using government to scare or fine or use corporations — to make journalists smaller.”
Mr Trump did not hold back in his subsequent Truth Social post.
“Why would the now highly-discredited 60 Minutes be doing a total ‘puff piece’ on George Clooney, a second-rate movie ‘star’ and failed political pundit,” Mr Trump wrote.
“He fought hard for Sleepy Joe’s election, and then, right after the Debate, dumped him like a dog. Later, I assume under orders from the Obama camp, pushed all out for ‘Kamala,’ only to soon realise that this was not going to work out too well.”
TEHRAN UP FOR ‘INDIRECT’ TALKS WITH TRUMP
It comes as Iran said on Monday it was open to indirect talks with the United States, after President Donald Trump had issued an ultimatum for a new nuclear deal.
“The way is open for indirect negotiations,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, dismissing the prospect of direct talks with Washington “until there is a change in the other side’s approach towards the Islamic republic”.
The top Iranian diplomat said Tehran would not engage in direct talks with Washington under threats and so long as Mr Trump maintain his “maximum pressure” policy.
Under that policy in his first term as president, Trump withdrew the United States from a landmark agreement on Iran’s nuclear program in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions on Tehran.
The deal, sealed in 2015 between Tehran and Western powers, required Iran to limit its nuclear ambitions in exchange for sanctions relief.
Western countries including the United States have long accused Iran of pursing a nuclear weapon, which Tehran has denied, insisting its enrichment activities were solely for peaceful purposes.
On March 7, Mr Trump said he had written to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to call for nuclear negotiations and warn of possible military action if Tehran refused.
The letter was delivered to Tehran on March 12 by UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash, Iranian news agency Fars reported at the time.
Khamenei said US threats “will get them nowhere”, warning of reciprocal measures “if they do anything malign” against Iran.
Araghchi on Thursday said Mr Trump’s letter was “more of a threat”, but added that it could also open up some opportunities and that Tehran would respond soon.
US Middle East envoy Steven Witkoff, in an interview said Mr Trump’s goal was to avoid military conflict by building trust with Iran.
He insisted the letter was not meant as a threat.
Tehran and Washington cut diplomatic ties after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the Western-backed shah.
Since then, the Swiss embassy in Tehran has facilitated communications between the two nations.
Gulf state Oman has also mediated indirect talks on Iran’s nuclear issue via the so-called “Muscat process”, which Araghchi had said in October was “halted for the time being.”
TRUMP SAYS OFFICIAL PORTRAIT IS ‘TRULY THE WORST’
The US President has taken to Truth Social to complain that the portrait hanging in the President’s Gallery at the Colorado Capitol was “purposefully distorted”.
“Nobody likes a bad picture or painting of themselves, but the one in Colorado, in the State Capitol, put up by the Governor, along with all other Presidents, was purposefully distorted to a level that even I, perhaps, have never seen before,” Mr Trump said on Sunday night.
“The artist also did President Obama, and he looks wonderful, but the one on me is truly the worst. She must have lost her talent as she got older.
“In any event, I would much prefer not having a picture than having this one, but many people from Colorado have called and written to complain. In fact, they are actually angry about it!”
The president then went on to blame Democratic Gov. Jared Polis for the portrait, although the governor had nothing to do with it, local outlets reported. The portrait is said to have been paid for by a Republican fundraising campaign.
“I am speaking on their behalf to the Radical Left Governor, Jared Polis, who is extremely weak on Crime, in particular with respect to Tren de Aragua, which practically took over Aurora (Don’t worry, we saved it!), to take it down. Jared should be ashamed of himself!,” Mr Trump said.
CANADA’S PM CALLS SNAP ELECTION AMID TRUMP THREAT
Canada’s new Prime Minister Mark Carney has called early elections for April 28, pledging to defeat Donald Trump’s drive to annex the United States’s huge northern neighbour.
Mr Carney, a former central banker, was chosen by Canada’s centrist Liberal Party to replace Justin Trudeau as prime minister, but he has never faced the country’s broader electorate.
That will now change as Mr Carney brought parliamentary elections forward several months from October, and he made it clear that the barrage of trade and sovereignty threats coming from the US president will be the focus of his campaign.
“I’ve just requested that the governor-general dissolve parliament and call an election for April 28. She has agreed,” Mr Carney said in a speech to the nation, referring to King Charles III’s representative in Canada, a member of the British Commonwealth.
“I’m asking Canadians for a strong, positive mandate to deal with President Trump,” Mr Carney said, adding that the Republican “wants to break us, so America can own us. We will not let that happen.”
“We are facing the most significant crisis of our lifetimes because of President Trump’s unjustified trade actions and his threats to our sovereignty,” Mr Carney said.
“Our response must be to build a strong economy and a more secure Canada,” he added, pledging not to meet Mr Trump until the US leader recognises Canadian sovereignty.
Mr Trump has riled his northern neighbour by repeatedly dismissing its borders as artificial, and urging it to join the United States as the 51st state.
The ominous remarks have been accompanied by Mr Trump’s swirling trade war, with the imposition of tariffs on imports from Canada, which could severely damage its economy.
‘FOREIGN INTERFERENCE’: GREENLAND PM DENOUNCES US VISIT
Greenland’s prime minister, Mute Egede, accused Washington on Monday of interfering in its political affairs by sending a US delegation to the Danish territory, which is coveted by US President Donald Trump.
Mr Egede said US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz would visit Greenland this week, along with Usha Vance, the wife of US Vice President JD Vance.
Usha Vance was to attend a dogsled race with her son.
Greenlandic media reports said the delegation also included US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, a former mining executive.
They showed images of two US Hercules planes on the tarmac at Nuuk airport as part of an advance security team dispatched to the vast Arctic island.
Speaking to Greenlandic daily Sermitsiaq, Mr Egede said the “only purpose of the visit was a demonstration of power, and the signal should not be misunderstood”.
Since returning to power in January, Mr Trump has insisted he wants the United States to take over Greenland for what he says are national security purposes.
He has refused to rule out the use of force to achieve that aim.
Greenland – which is seeking to emancipate itself from Denmark – has rebuffed Mr Trump, insisting that only Greenlanders can decide their future.
Mr Egede said Washington had previously been told there would be “no talks” on any subject until a new Greenlandic government was in place to conduct business.
“It should be said clearly that our integrity and democracy must be respected without foreign interference,” Mr Egede said in a post on Facebook.
He added that the US delegation’s visit “cannot be seen as just a private visit”.
“(Waltz) is Trump’s confidant and closest adviser, and his presence in Greenland alone will certainly make the Americans believe in Trump’s mission, and the pressure will increase after the visit,” Mr Egede told Sermitsiaq.
Ulrik Pram Gad of the Danish Institute for International Studies called the visit an “aggressive move” by Washington.
“They haven’t been invited by Greenlanders. They haven’t been invited by the Danes. They just announced that they will go,” he told AFP.
Greenland holds massive untapped mineral and oil reserves, including rare earths crucial to the green transition and seen as a potential springboard to independence.
Oil and uranium exploration are banned, however, and there are only two active mines due to the complexity of mining in the inhospitable climate.
Greenland is also strategically located in the Arctic between North America and Europe, with rising US, Chinese and Russian interest in the region as climate change opens up shipping routes previously covered by ice.
– with New York Post, AFP
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Originally published as US Defence Secretary denies ‘war plans’ discussed in group chat
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