President Donald Trump has voiced strong support for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth amidst a controversy involving a leaked Signal chat. Some Democrats have called for Hegseth to resign after details of a military strike in Yemen were accidentally shared in a chat that included Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic. Goldberg later published the contents of the chat, sparking the uproar.

The incident occurred when Hegseth, in a Signal chat with other administration officials, mistakenly sent information about the military strike to Goldberg. This included details about the timing and weaponry for the mission. After the leak became public, several Democratic lawmakers, including Senators Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly, called for Hegseth’s resignation, claiming the information could have jeopardized the operation and put military personnel at risk.

In response to the calls for resignation, President Trump defended Hegseth. “Hegseth is doing a great job, he had nothing to do with this,” Trump said during a press conference. “How do you bring Hegseth into this?” He also added that Mike Waltz, the White House national security advisor, had taken responsibility for mistakenly adding Goldberg to the chat. “Mike Waltz … he claimed responsibility, I would imagine. It had nothing to do with anyone else. It was Mike, I guess, I don’t know, I was told it was Mike,” Trump explained.

The president minimized the controversy surrounding the leak, highlighting the success of the military mission. “There was no harm done because the attack was unbelievably successful that night,” Trump emphasized, steering attention to the positive outcome of the operation. He also questioned whether the Signal app, which is known for encrypting messages and deleting them after they are read, was to blame for the mistake.

“Look, it’s all a witch hunt … you wanna ask about whether or not Signal works, I don’t know if Signal works, I think that Signal could be defective to be honest with you,” Trump said. The Signal app, widely used in Washington, D.C., for its secure communication features, became a focal point of the controversy.

Senators Gallego and Kelly were vocal in their criticism, with Kelly saying, “The Signal incident is what happens when you have the most unqualified Secretary of Defense we’ve ever seen. We’re lucky it didn’t cost any servicemembers their lives, but for the safety of our military and our country, Secretary Hegseth needs to resign.” Gallego echoed these concerns, stating, “This could have gotten our men and women killed! The Secretary of Defense needs to resign. The incompetence and cover up is embarrassing.”

In defense of his actions, Hegseth took to social media to clarify his role in the situation. He insisted that the information he shared was not classified, and he criticized The Atlantic for mischaracterizing his messages as “war plans.” Hegseth pointed out that the details he sent in the chat were vague, with no names, locations, or classified information included. “The Atlantic released the so-called ‘war plans’ and those ‘plans’ include: No names. No targets. No locations. No units. No routes. No sources. No methods. And no classified information. Those are some really sh***y war plans,” Hegseth wrote on social media.

Hegseth explained that his intention was to provide a “team update” rather than to share sensitive military plans. “My job – team update, to provide updates in real time. General updates in real time keep everybody informed. That’s what I did. That’s my job,” he stated.

Other administration officials also weighed in on the incident. Secretary of State Marco Rubio responded by acknowledging that a mistake was made, but emphasized that no classified information was involved. “Obviously, someone made a mistake, someone made a big mistake and added a journalist. Nothing against journalists but you ain’t supposed to be on that thing. None of the information on there at any point threatened the operation or the lives of our servicemen,” Rubio said.

While the incident led to significant backlash from some Democrats, the administration has largely downplayed the leak, focusing instead on the successful outcome of the military operation and asserting that no classified information was compromised. The debate continues, with some questioning the handling of secure communications, while others defend Hegseth’s actions as part of his responsibility to provide timely updates to his team.