Trump's defence chief Pete Hegseth 'leaked war plans in second group chat' (2025)

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is turning Signal leaks into a family affair, according to claims he shared war plans with his wife and brother.

‘Nobody was textingwar plans’, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said last month after sharing details of a military operation against Houthi rebels before and while it was in progress.

He had used the Signal messaging app to share the time, weapons and target with Donald Trump’s top security officials and – inadvertently – a journalist.

It turns out that wasn’t the only Signal group chat where Hegseth shared details of the upcoming airstrikes in Yemen, the New York Times reported.

Hegseth had another one, which he created, with his wife, Jennifer, his brother Phil, and his personal lawyer Tim Parlatore.

They had been in the ‘Defense | Team Huddle’ chat since January this year, before Hegseth was confirmed as defense secretary.

Hegseth said: ‘What a big surprise that a few leakers get fired and suddenly a bunch of hit pieces come out from the same media that peddled the Russia hoax, won’t give back their Pulitzers, they got Pulitzers for a bunch of lies.

‘This is what the media does. They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations.’

President Trump ‘absolutely has confidence’ in Hegseth, his spokesperson said today.

While Signal is end-to-end encrypted, it is still a security weak spot the National Security Agency warned its employees against using in February.

Hegseth is understood to have used his private phone to access this particular group chat and share highly sensitive military information, people familiar with the chat said.

The defense secretary’s brother and lawyer both work at the Pentagon, but not in roles that would necessitate their briefing on the March 15 plans to launch airstrikes on the Houthis.

A Pentagon spokesperson said: ‘There was no classified information in any Signal chat, no matter how many ways they try to write the story.’

Mr Hegseth’s wife Jennifer holds no official role. That hasn’t stopped her from accompanying the defense secretary to sensitive meetings with foreign leaders.

The former Fox News producer was present when Hegseth met his British counterpart John Healey and Admiral Tony Radakin, head of the UK Armed Forces, last month.

Discussions including sharing military intelligence and aid with Ukraine. This was also a topic for discussion at a meeting of NATO defense ministers the in February, which Jennifer was also at.

It is not clear what security clearance she has, if any.

Former chief Pentagon spokesperson John Ullyot, who resigned last week, called for Hegseth to be sacked.

Writing for Politico, he claimed the Department of Defense is ‘in disarray under Hegseth’s leadership’.

‘It’s been a month of total chaos at the Pentagon’, he said.

‘From leaks of sensitive operational plans to mass firings, the dysfunction is now a major distraction for the president – who deserves better from his senior leadership.’

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