Private data of Trump officials in Signal scandal accessible online
The private data of top security advisers to Donald Trump have been leaked, adding to the fallout from a group chat discussing war plans with a journalist.
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The private data of top security advisers to US President Donald Trump can be accessed online, German news magazine Der Spiegel reported, adding to the fallout from the officials’ use of a Signal group chat to plan airstrikes on Yemen.
Mobile phone numbers, email addresses and in some cases passwords used by national security adviser Mike Waltz, defence secretary Pete Hegseth, and director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard can be found via commercial data-search services and hacked data dumped online. It is not clear in all cases how recent the details are.
The Trump administration has been facing calls for the resignation of senior officials amid bipartisan criticism after Monday’s embarrassing revelations.
The chat group, which included vice-president JD Vance, Mr Hegseth, the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and others, discussed sensitive plans to carry out strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen via the Signal app, potentially threatening the safety of US servicemen and women taking part in the operation.
Mr Trump has backed Mr Hegseth, saying “He had nothing to do with this” and calling the scandal a “witch-hunt”.
The phone numbers and email addresses – mostly current – were in some cases used for Instagram and LinkedIn profiles, cloud-storage service Dropbox, and apps that track a user’s location.
Der Spiegel reported it was “particularly easy” to discover Mr Hegseth’s mobile number and email address, using a commercial provider of contact information. It found that the email address, and in some cases even the password associated with it, could be found in more than 20 data leaks. It reported that it was possible to verify that the email address was used just a few days ago.
It said the mobile number led to a WhatsApp account that Hegseth appeared to have only recently deleted.
TRUMP ANNOUNCES TARIFF ON CARS
Donald Trump has announced a 25 per cent tariff on all foreign-made cars, saying it would boost domestic manufacturing.
Mr Trump revealed the move in the Oval Office, saying that “this is gonna lead to the construction of a lot of plants” to build cars domestically.
The tariffs will apply to finished cars and trucks that are shipped into the United States, including American brands whose automobiles are assembled overseas.
The move aims to encourage companies to build more factories in the US, a key goal for Mr Trump, who called it “very exciting”.
“We’ll effectively be charging a 25 per cent tariff, but if you build your car in the United States, there is no tariff,” he said.
“Anybody who has plants in the United States, it’s going to be good for.”
The tariffs will take effect April 2, the same day as so-called “reciprocal” tariffs on goods that the Trump administration argues are unfairly taxed by the US’s trading partners.
Since taking office, Trump has imposed a 20 per cent tariff on all US imports from China. He also levied a 25 per cent tariff on nearly all goods from Canada and Mexico before later exempting about half under North American trade agreement rules.
Director of the Clean Transportation for All campaign at the Sierra Club, Katherine Garcia, released a statement opposing the tariffs.
“By imposing non-strategic auto tariffs, Donald Trump will increase car prices for Americans and hurt working families,” she said.
“In order for tariffs to help boost domestic manufacturing, they must be accompanied by innovative investment in the US automotive industry.”
It comes as Anthony Albanese revealed earlier this week that he has personally invited US President Donald Trump to visit Down Under.
The revelation follows increased pressure for the Prime Minister to meet with Mr Trump after the US imposed 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from Australia, despite a request for a carve out.
Mr Albanese said that if he wins the upcoming May election, a visit to Washington DC would be his first international trip.
He also said he has also invited Mr Trump to visit Australia, which would be his first trip here as President.
‘REALLY SCARY’: MORE TRUMP WAR PLAN TEXTS REVEALED
President Trump’s cabinet officials revealed “pretty detailed” classified information on a chat group with a journalist about impending US air strikes against Houthi terrorists in Yemen, in a “really scary” breach of protocol, according to a national security expert.
The full exchange from the encrypted Signal chat – which included Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and national security adviser Michael Waltz – was released by Atlantic magazine editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg, who was inadvertently added to the private group.
“TIME NOW (1144et): Weather is FAVORABLE. Just CONFIRMED w/CENTCOM we are a GO for mission launch,” Mr Hegseth told participants.
“1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package),” Hegseth continued, before adding: “1345: ‘Trigger Based’ F-18 1st Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME – also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s).”
The “classified” operational details covered the “method of targeting,” the timeline for the operation and who pulled the trigger on the Houthi targets, according to Dan Meyer, a national security partner at New York law firm Tully Rinckey who spoke to The New York Post.
“The pilots were using their sensors, using their triggers to confirm identification and they let the drones deliver the weapons,” said Mr Meyer, a 25-year veteran of national security law and former official at the Department of Defence’s Office of Inspector General.
Hegseth also wrote in the Signal thread that at 2.10pm, “more F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package).”
“1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier ‘Trigger Based’ targets),” the Pentagon leader said.
“1536 F-18 2nd Strike Starts – also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched.”
Mr Meyer explained that the other texts were “pretty detailed.”
“That’s when bombs would actually drop,” he said, referring to Hegseth’s “1415” missive.
“So what that tells me is the pilots weren’t launching weapons.”
“Somebody flying the drone, you know, could be [operating out of] a strip mall down in New Jersey,” he added.
“Really scary that that went out over Signal because that reveals a method of targeting that you can read online in some places,” Mr Meyer concluded, “but you really don’t want to know in specific instances when ‘trigger-based’ targeting is being done.”
The national security expert also noted that Mr Hegseth believed “all the details of the actual security of the operation” were “good” — “We are currently clean on OPSEC,” the defence secretary wrote, despite Goldberg eavesdropping on the entire exchange.
“There’s a checklist you go through to make sure that the operational security of the mission is not going to compromise the actual ability to deliver the weapons,” Mr Meyer explained.
No targets.
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellUSA) March 26, 2025
No locations.
No units.
No routes.
No sources.
No methods.
No classified information.
Just another hoax by the Atlantic foisted on the American people meant to undermine SECDEF Hegseth’s leadership & President Trump’s national security agenda.
It won’t work.
With Democrats now calling Mr Hegseth’s resignation, he claimed in an X post that the plans included “No names. No targets. No locations. No units. No routes. No sources. No methods. And no classified information.”
“We will continue to do our job, while the media does what it does best: peddle hoaxes,” he added.
He also continued to deny claims that the information he texted other Trump officials in a group chat earlier this month discussed classified war plans.
“Nobody’s texting war plans,” he told reporters in Hawaii. “As a matter of fact, they even changed the title to attack plans, because they know it’s not war plans,” Hegseth said.
TRUMP TO CUT VACCINE AID TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
The Trump administration is preparing to halt funding for Gavi, a global health organisation that provides vaccines and essential medical care to developing nations.
According to a 281-page spreadsheet obtained by The New York Times, the administration plans to cut funding for thousands of foreign aid programs, including support for organisations that supply vaccines to children and initiatives aimed at combating malaria in developing countries.
Since its establishment 25 years ago, Gavi has saved 19 million children’s lives, with the US contributing 13 per cent of its budget, The Times noted.
“The US has historically been one of Gavi’s biggest donors and I hope that longstanding champions on Capitol Hill will urge the administration to reverse course,” Janeen Madan Keller, policy fellow and deputy director of the global health policy program at the Center for Global Development said.
“Gavi is one of the most impactful global health initiatives. We know that vaccinating children is one of the most cost-effective ways to improve health and save lives – which is exactly why Gavi has enjoyed bipartisan support to date.
“This latest move will turn back years of hard-won progress and stymie Gavi’s efforts to stop the spread of infectious disease outbreaks before they reach the US border.”
TRUMP ADVISER CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR BREACH
US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz claimed “full responsibility” for mistakenly adding a journalist to a group chat in which top American officials discussed impending strikes in Yemen.
“I take full responsibility. I built the group; my job is to make sure everything’s co-ordinated,” Mr Waltz told Fox News host Laura Ingraham in his first interview on the security breach, adding that he does not personally know The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, the journalist who was added to the chat.
When pressed by The Ingraham Angle host on why Mr Goldberg’s number was on his phone to begin with, the White House official claimed he didn’t know.
“Have you ever had somebody’s contact that shows their name and then you have somebody else’s number there?” Mr Waltz began, The New York Post reported.
“So, of course I didn’t see this loser in the group,” he continued, referring to Mr Goldberg, who is viewed by many as an antagonist of Trump.
“It looked like someone else.
“Now, whether he did it deliberately or it happened by some other technical means is something we’re trying to figure out.”
Mr Waltz described the incident as “embarrassing” — but vowed that the White House would “get to the bottom of it.”
“I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but of all the people out there, somehow this guy who has lied about the president, who has lied to Gold Star families, lied to their attorneys, and gone to Russia hoax, gone to just all kinds of lengths to lie and smear the president of the United States, and he’s the one that somehow gets on somebody’s contact and then gets sucked into this group,” Mr Waltz bemoaned.
The national security adviser said that he doesn’t believe Mr Goldberg, whom he described as “vile,” was intentionally added to the group by a rogue White House staffer.
Mr Waltz suggested that tech tycoon and Department of Government Efficiency chief Elon Musk might be able to help the White House figure out what happened.
“I just talked to Elon on the way here,” Mr Waltz said. “We’ve got the best technical minds looking at how this happened.” “But I can tell you for 100 per cent — I don’t know this guy. I know him by his horrible reputation. And he really is the bottom scum of journalists,” he vehemently said of Mr Goldberg.
EDITOR EXPLAINS HOW TEXT SAGA UNFOLDED
Earlier Mr Goldberg told MSNBC he was astonished to receive a stream of updates of “what was about to happen” as America prepared to strike Yemen on March 15.
Mr Goldberg was added to the “Houthi PC small group” Signal chain on March 11 by President Donald Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz along with the likes of Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance.
Meanwhile, Democrats gleefully tore strips off Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard during a timely Senate Committee on Intelligence Hearing.
Among those to take aim was Senator Angus King who was incensed after Ms Gabbard testified that “there were no classified or intelligence equities that were included in that chat group.”
.@SenAngusKing: "So the attack sequencing and timing and weapons and targets you don't consider to have been classified?"
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 25, 2025
DNI Gabbard: "I defer to the Secretary of Defense and the National Security Council..."
King: "You're the head of the intelligence community." pic.twitter.com/R59vbevaSx
“So the attack sequencing and timing and weapons and targets you don’t consider to have been classified?” Senator King asked.
“I defer to the Secretary of Defence and the National Security Council,” Ms Gabbard replied.
“You’re the head of the intelligence community,” Senator King shot back.
He then challenged her to release the entire text stream to the public given it was “not classified”.
Senator Mark Warner also took a shot at Ms Gabbard labelling the incident as “sloppy” and one that could have “endangered American lives”.
Mr Goldberg spoke out after Mr Hegseth threw doubt over The Atlantic’s reporting of the incident, describing the long-time editor as “deceitful and highly discredited.”
“I mean, you know, he can say that it wasn’t a war plan, but it was a minute-by-minute accounting of what was about to happen, organised by CENTCOM, Central Command, which is the military oversight group of the Middle East, the broader Middle East,” Mr Goldberg said.
“It’s interesting because as I’m reading it at 11.44am on Saturday morning, the 15th, seeing that the Houthis are not going to know about this for another couple of hours, and I know about it, and I’m thinking to myself, I mean, honestly, I’m thinking to myself, ‘well, I’m glad that Mike Waltz didn’t invite a Houthi into the group or a Russian spy or an adversary of the United States’.”
Mr Goldberg said he would not be revealing anything from the text chain that could potentially jeopardise national security.
“Look, I’m going to be responsible here and not disclose the things that I read and saw. I will describe them to you,” Mr Goldberg said.
“The specific time of a future attack; specific targets, including human targets meant to be killed in that attack; weapon system; even weather reports.
“I mean, the precise detail, and then a long section on sequencing: ‘This is gonna happen, then that is gonna happen. After that happens, this happens, then that happens, and then we go and find out if it worked’.”
Mr Goldberg also shared screenshots from the group chat with The New York Post including a message from Mr Hegseth replying to a comment made earlier by Mr Vance.
“VP (referring to Mr Vance) I fully share your loathing of European freeloading. It’s PATHETIC,” Mr Hegseth wrote.
Mr Trump has defended Mr Waltz in an interview with NBC.
“Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man,” Mr Trump said adding that the incident had “no impact at all” on the strikes which were “perfectly successful.”
“The only glitch in two months and it turned out not to be a serious one,” Mr Trump said.
Mr Hegseth has slammed The Atlantic in the wake of the media storm.
“Nobody was texting war plans and that’s all I have to say about that,” Mr Hegseth said.
National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes confirmed to the Post the group chat “appears to be an authentic message chain” and investigations as to how an “inadvertent number” was added were ongoing.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called it “one of the most stunning breaches of military intelligence” in modern times.
– with AFP and The New York Post
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Originally published as Private data of Trump officials in Signal scandal accessible online
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