New revelations regarding the unauthorized distribution of sensitive military data via an unsecured messaging platform by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have escalated demands for his resignation, as the scandal enters its third day of repercussions.
“Hegseth is doing an excellent job; he had no part in this,” Trump told reporters late Wednesday, shortly after The Atlantic unveiled further transcripts from a Signal chat that featured Hegseth, several key Trump officials, and journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, who was mistakenly included in the thread. The disclosed messages revealed that Hegseth shared real-time updates about a U.S. airstrike targeting Yemen’s Houthi militants on March 15, including launch times for F-18 fighter jets, MQ-9 Reaper drones, and Tomahawk missiles—information deemed sensitive by national security experts. In one of the messages, Hegseth pinpointed the exact time when “THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP.”
“Everyone involved in that text chain should be let go, but Pete Hegseth’s resignation is crucial,” stated Senator Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat from Illinois and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, during an interview with TIME, responding to Hegseth’s disclosure of military operation details on Signal.
Other participants in the chat included Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, who organized the conversation and mistakenly added Goldberg. Following Hegseth, Waltz has faced considerable criticism, and he acknowledged late Tuesday that he accepts full responsibility for the “embarrassing” leak.
Trump defended his beleaguered Defense Secretary, who had narrowly secured his position to lead the Pentagon just two months prior, despite lacking military experience relative to his predecessors and allegations of heavy drinking. “How do you bring Hegseth into this?” Trump queried reporters on Wednesday. “He wasn’t involved. It’s all a witch hunt.”
Senator Jon Ossoff, a Democrat from Georgia and member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, commented on Wednesday that “no military officer would tolerate this” and criticized the Administration’s handling of the incident as “an egregious breach of operational security.”
“Any military officer who inadvertently leaked or carelessly managed such sensitive information would lose their security clearance and likely face court-martial,” he asserted. “Secretary Hegseth should resign by noon today.” When pressed about Waltz’s potential resignation, Ossoff remarked, “He’s obviously incompetent and should be removed.”
Even some Republicans are now calling for an investigation. Senator Roger Wicker, a Republican from Mississippi and chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, announced on Wednesday that he would seek an inspector general investigation into the use of Signal for discussing military operations. While Signal is often praised for its encrypted messaging, it is generally not seen as secure enough for national security communications.
Wicker, one of the few Republicans to question Hegseth’s leadership, expressed concern over the Administration’s unwillingness to acknowledge the seriousness of the breach. “The information released recently appears to be of such sensitive nature that, based on my understanding, I would have insisted on its classification,” he told reporters.
The Trump Administration has maintained that the messages did not contain classified information. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to elaborate on the basis for the Administration’s position, instead claiming that the controversy was overstated and accusing The Atlantic of spreading misinformation. “Do you trust the Secretary of Defense, who was nominated for this role and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, who has served honorably in combat, or do you trust Jeffrey Goldberg, a registered Democrat and an anti-Trump sensationalist reporter?” she questioned reporters on Wednesday.
However, leading Democrats have strongly rejected the Administration’s dismissals. “It’s nonsense. What world do these people live in?” Senator Mark Warner, the leading Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told TIME in response to the Administration’s assertions that the shared information was unclassified. “When you detail the time, place, and type of weaponry used—do they think the American public is naïve?” Warner argued that the leak not only endangered American troops but also undermined trust with vital allies. “‘America First’ shouldn’t mean America alone, and that’s the direction we’re heading.”
When asked late Wednesday if he still believed the messages were unclassified, Trump replied, “You’ll have to ask the people involved… I really don’t know.”
Duckworth, a combat veteran herself, stated to TIME that the information shared in the chat was, by definition, classified. “The sequence of the attack and the types of platforms being used are inherently classified information,” she elaborated. “This information was shared in an unclassified setting before those pilots were in the target area. If that Signal chain had been compromised, those pilots could have lost their lives.”
Beyond the immediate risks to U.S. personnel, Duckworth expressed concerns about potential long-term diplomatic consequences. “I’m certain our allies are reconsidering sharing classified information with us,” she told TIME. “We’ve shown that our Secretary of Defense, the Director of National Intelligence, and the NSA are incapable of safeguarding classified data.”
During a tense House Intelligence Committee hearing on Wednesday, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe defended their participation in the chat, asserting that similar information had been shared with U.S. allies. However, their explanations did not convince Democrats, who accused the Administration of failing to protect vital military strategies. Representative Jason Crow noted that the Houthis had successfully downed drones used in the operation and attributed the security lapse to the Administration. “This is a leadership failure, and that’s why Secretary Hegseth, who clearly transmitted classified, sensitive operational information through this chain, must resign immediately,” Crow asserted.
Republican leaders, however, have remained surprisingly reticent. Senator Mitch McConnell, the former long-serving Senate Majority Leader who voted against Hegseth’s confirmation, declined to comment when asked by TIME if he believed Hegseth should retain his position. Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas and chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, also refrained from commenting when asked if Hegseth and Waltz should be dismissed.
Democrats argue that the Signal incident is part of a troubling pattern of negligent management of national security information during Trump’s presidency. From his earliest days in office, Trump has consistently shown little regard for protecting the nation’s secrets, which has strained relationships with U.S. intelligence partners. In 2017, he disclosed classified intelligence from Israel to Russia’s foreign minister during a meeting at the White House. “We’re witnessing a level of incompetence,” Warner stated to TIME. “If this were an isolated incident… but this is a pattern.”
Regarding the broader implications of the ongoing scandal, Senator Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, told TIME, “This is such a serious breach of national security that it’s hard to imagine someone surviving it. Yet, we’re in the Trump era, and anything seems possible.”
Despite the mounting pressure, the White House continues to back Hegseth and Waltz. Press Secretary Leavitt confirmed on Wednesday that the Administration has launched an internal investigation into how Goldberg was included in the Signal chat, involving assistance from Elon Musk and his security team. However, she did not specify whether any officials would face termination. “What I can say definitively is that I just spoke with the president, and he maintains confidence in his national security team,” she stated.
For many Democrats in Congress, the lack of accountability within Trump’s national security team reflects a broader disregard for truth and responsibility. “Their first instinct is to lie, to cover up, or to construct a larger lie on top of a big lie,” remarked Senator Adam Schiff of California in an interview with TIME on Tuesday night. “Whether they can persist in this depends on the American public and whether they demand more from their representatives in this firehouse of falsehood,” Schiff added.
