Signal scandal: What is Trump doing about his leaky administration?

The US national security breach that texted war plans to a journalist

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Leaking secrets: one of the texts revealing the attack plans to bomb Houthi targets. Photograph: Kayla Bartkowski/Getty
Leaking secrets: one of the texts revealing the attack plans to bomb Houthi targets. Photograph: Kayla Bartkowski/Getty

On March 15th the US military carried out air strikes against the Iran backed Houthis in Yemen. It was an operation that should have been top secret, its planning known only to key Trump administration officials. But it wasn’t.

Through an astonishing breach in national security, the editor of the Atlantic magazine Jeffrey Goldberg was invited into a group chat on Signal where US vice-president JD Vance, secretary of defence Pete Hegseth, and national security adviser Mike Waltz, among others were sharing highly-classified information in advance of the military strike.

President Donald Trump responded to this astonishing leak, not by initiating a round of firings, but with a robust deny and deflect strategy.

Scott Lucas, Professor of International Politics at the UCD Clinton Institute explains how this Signal leak happened and how the story unfolded this week.

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Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey.

Bernice Harrison

Bernice Harrison

Bernice Harrison is an Irish Times journalist and cohost of In the News podcast