President Donald Trump instructed a reporter to cease questions regarding the ongoing “Signalgate” controversy, which has implicated his administration for several weeks. He dismissed queries about the encrypted messaging issue as “wasted.”
During a media interaction aboard Air Force One, Trump appeared visibly frustrated when asked about the inspector general’s investigation into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of the Signal messaging app for discussing sensitive military operations.
Initially, Trump responded with, “What is it?” indicating confusion.
Upon clarification that the inquiry was about “an IG investigation into the secretary of defense’s use of the Signal app,” Trump’s attitude swiftly changed.
“Oh, is that? You’re bringing that up again?” Trump fired back. “Don’t bring that up again. Your editor’s probably, that’s such a wasted story.”
The reporter switched to another topic, but the brief exchange has reignited discussion concerning the administration’s handling of the scandal. This started when National Security Advisor Michael Waltz inadvertently added Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, to a Signal group chat related to military strategies in Yemen and other security matters.
The Pentagon’s acting inspector general initiated the investigation at the request of the Senate Armed Services Committee to assess whether Hegseth and other officials followed Department of Defense policies regarding the use of messaging apps for official purposes and complied with classification and records retention requirements.
The Trump administration has consistently asserted that no classified information was disclosed in the Signal chats. However, current and former military officials have challenged this assertion, pointing out that the specifics shared about military strikes, including the exact timing of warplane launches and bomb drops, would usually be considered classified information.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has attempted to de-emphasize the controversy, indicating that measures have been implemented to prevent similar occurrences and declaring the matter “closed.” Nonetheless, the inspector general’s investigation remains active, with evaluations ongoing in Washington, D.C., and at U.S. Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Florida.
The scandal has expanded beyond the initial leaked chat. According to reports from The Guardian, Waltz’s team has established at least 20 different Signal group chats to coordinate sensitive national security tasks, prompting further scrutiny over the administration’s information security practices and potential breaches of federal record-keeping laws.
Democrats have called for Hegseth’s and Waltz’s resignations over the incident. Senator Mark Warner, the leading Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, has been particularly outspoken about the need for accountability. Republican Senators James Lankford and Roger Wicker have endorsed the inquiry, although Lankford described calls for Hegseth’s resignation as “overkill.”
Trump has previously stated he will not dismiss anyone involved in the Signal scandal and has expressed ongoing confidence in Waltz. The president has described the incident as a “glitch” that had “no impact at all” operationally, and more recently labeled the continuing criticism as “the Radical Left’s Witch Hunt.”
Critics have taken to social media to urge reporters to persist in addressing the issue. Journalist Mehdi Hasan criticized both Trump’s reaction and the media’s response, writing: “Not sure what’s worse, the reporter asking a softball do you want to weigh in on that [Signalgate] or the reporter immediately moving onto another topic when Trump demands, like a little baby, that she doesn’t bring that up again.”
The Atlantic had requested permission to publish the full text of the Signal chat they accessed, but the administration denied this request because it contained sensitive information. This contradicts the White House’s position that no sensitive material was disclosed. Despite this, The Atlantic proceeded to publish the messages on its website, highlighting the administration’s conflicting stance on the sensitivity of the information.
The larger controversy has prompted significant questions regarding information security practices within the Trump administration. Reports indicate that beyond the Signal app usage, some government officials have been using personal Gmail accounts for official business, possibly compromising sensitive information and violating federal record-keeping requirements.
The bipartisan nature of the investigation is notable, with the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee jointly requesting the Pentagon probe. This reflects the seriousness with which lawmakers view the potential security breach, despite the administration’s efforts to downplay its significance.
As the inspector general’s investigation continues, the incident has underscored tensions between transparency, security protocols, and handling sensitive military information within the executive branch.
