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Donald Trump is standing by Pete Hegseth following revelations of a new Signal chat in which the US defence secretary is said to have shared sensitive information about last month’s US military strikes in Yemen with family members.
On Monday morning, as Democrats called for Hegseth to step down from his post, the US president said he continued to support the defence secretary, a former Fox News host.
“He is doing a great job,” Trump said while hosting the annual Easter Egg roll at the White House. “Ask the Houthis how he’s doing,” the US president added, referring to the Iran-backed rebel group operating in Yemen that was targeted by the US.
Earlier in the day, press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump “stands strongly behind” Hegseth and “absolutely has confidence in him”.
Anna Kelly, a White House spokesperson, issued a statement saying that “no classified information was shared” in the Signal chats by Hegseth.
She also attacked “recently fired ‘leakers’” for “continuing to misrepresent the truth to soothe their shattered egos and undermine the President’s agenda”.
The New York Times on Sunday reported that Hegseth shared sensitive information about the strikes in a chat group that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer.
The new accusations come weeks after The Atlantic published excerpts of a separate Signal chat group in which Hegseth posted detailed timings of military strikes in Yemen and had erroneously added the magazine’s editor.
The furore around Hegseth over the Signal chats has been compounded by allegations of broader turmoil at the Pentagon since he took office as defence secretary, including the resignation last week of John Ullyot, a top communications official.
“It’s been a month of total chaos at the Pentagon. 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,” Ullyot wrote in an op-ed for Politico on Sunday. “It’s hard to see Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth remaining in his role for much longer,” he added.
The original Signal chat that included top officials discussing sensitive information about the strikes against the Houthis has also cast a cloud over the future of Mike Waltz, the US national security adviser, who is responsible for coordinating foreign and defence policy at the White House.
But the pressure is most intense on Hegseth in the wake of the latest revelations, with some Democrats renewing their calls for him to step down.
“Our military and our country deserve serious leaders. If he cared about the institution he’s leading, he should man up, acknowledge he’s a distraction to the military’s mission, and resign,” Elissa Slotkin, the Democratic senator from Michigan, wrote on X late on Sunday.
Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate armed services committee, stopped short of calling for Hegseth to resign, but said in a statement: “I have grave concerns about Secretary Hegseth’s ability to maintain the trust and confidence of US service members and the Commander-in-Chief.”
Hegseth has remained defiant in the face of the criticism. He was also at the White House Easter egg roll, and attacked the “media” and “disgruntled former employees” for trying to “slash and burn people”. “It’s not going to work with me,” he told reporters at the event on Monday.
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