President Trump suggested Wednesday that the Signal messaging platform his top national security brass used to discuss the Houthi strike may be “defective.”
While defending Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and national security adviser Mike Waltz for their roles in the Signal leak scandal, Trump took aim at the encrypted service without specifying why he thought it had issues.
“I don’t know that Signal works. I think Signal could be defective, to be honest with you,” Trump, 78, told reporters in the Oval Office after signing an executive order to slap 25% tariffs on imports of foreign cars.
“It could be a defective platform, and we’re gonna have to find that answer.”
CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who was on the leaked Signal chat, defended the use of the platform during testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, claiming that he was told “by the CIA director’s management folks was about the use of Signal as a permissible work use.”
Signal uses end-to-end encryption to secure its messaging service, and the company denies that there are any known vulnerabilities within the service.
The leak of the Signal group chat about the US’s March 15 attack in Yemen occurred because Waltz inadvertently added Atlantic editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg into the chat named “Houthi PC Small Group,” as shown in a screenshot published by the outlet.
“The press up-plays it. I think it’s all a witch hunt, that’s all. I think it’s a witch hunt. I wasn’t involved with it — I wasn’t there. But I can tell you the result is unbelievable,” Trump said of the Signal leak scandal.
Breaking down the military terms used in Signal group chat
- “Trigger Based” = Sensors used to confirm ID of target
- “Strike Drones on Target” = Drones bomb target
- “Sea-based Tomahawks” = Cruise missiles fired from at least one submarine
- “OPSEC” = Operational security
- “Positive ID” = Terrorist’s ID confirmed
- BDA = Battle damage assessment after strike
Trump also defended Waltz amid growing calls for his resignation.
“Mike Waltz, I guess he said he claimed responsibility,” Trump said of his national security adviser. “I always thought it was Mike. But again, the attacks were unbelievably successful, and that’s ultimately what you should be talking about.”
Trump also brushed off questions about Hegseth’s future, insisting his defense secretary “had nothing to do with this.”
“How do you bring Hegseth into it?” he said.
Hegseth had sent a message on the Signal chat detailing a specific timeline of how the Pentagon would carry out the strikes against Houthi outposts in Yemen. The message included details about weapons being used.
Initially, the Atlantic declined to publish the Hegseth message detailing strike plans in its original bombshell report that dropped Monday.
After pushback from the Trump administration and claims from Hegseth that “nobody was texting war plans,” the Atlantic released more text messages on Wednesday.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to definitively rule out Trump firing anyone over the debacle.
“What I can say definitively is what I just spoke to the president about, and he continues to have confidence in his national security team,” Leavitt told reporters Wednesday, sidestepping the question.
Trump also crowed about how the operation against the Houthis earlier this month was “successful.”
“They’ve got to stop, they’ve got to say, ‘No mas,’” Trump added, using the Spanish term for “no more.”
“The Houthis want peace cause they’re getting the hell knocked out of them,” Trump added. “The Houthis are dying for peace. They’re bad. Look, they were knocking ships out of the ocean.”
The Post has reached out to Signal for comment.
