Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday reacted to the revelation he mentioned particulars about an imminent assault on Houthis in Yemen in March in a second Sign group chat — one which included his spouse and brother.
Talking to reporters on the White Home Easter Egg Roll, which he attended along with his household, Hegseth attacked these he mentioned had been “disgruntled” former workers and the media for what he mentioned was “nameless smears.”
“I’ve spoken with the president and we’re going to proceed combating. On the identical web page all the best way,” Hegseth mentioned.
President Donald Trump defended Hegseth and mentioned he nonetheless has “nice confidence” in him as he took reporter questions on the White Home celebration.
“Right here we go once more. Only a waste of time. He’s doing a terrific job,” Trump mentioned of Hegseth.
“Ask the Houthis how he is doing,” the president added.
Secretary of Protection Pete Hegseth seems to be on, throughout the annual White Home Easter Egg Roll occasion, on the South Garden of the White Home in Washington, D.C., April 21, 2025.
Leah Millis/Reuters
An Easter bunny stands behind President Donald Trump as Trump salutes on the Blue Room Balcony throughout the annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Garden of the White Home, April 21, 2025, in Washington.
Mandel and/AFP
Sources advised ABC Information that Hegseth shared details about a forthcoming assault on Houthi rebels in Yemen in a Sign message chat that included his spouse Jennifer, who doesn’t work for the Protection Division, in addition to his brother and his private lawyer.
Hegseth didn’t explicitly deny the report as he was requested to reply to the experiences on Monday.
“They take nameless sources from disgruntled former workers, after which they attempt to slash and burn individuals and damage their reputations. Not going to work with me, as a result of we’re altering the Protection Division, placing the Pentagon again within the arms of warfare fighters and nameless smears from disgruntled former workers on previous information would not matter,” he mentioned.
The second Sign chat reportedly occurred across the similar time that high Trump officers, together with Hegseth, mentioned a strike on Houthis over the commercially-available app. That textual content chain got here to gentle as a result of inadvertently added to the chat was The Atlantic’s Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg. The Pentagon’s impartial inspector normal is presently reviewing Hegseth’s use of Sign to debate army actions.
White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt, pressed on the newest revelation on “Fox & Buddies” on Monday, mentioned “the president stands strongly behind Secretary Hegseth” and mentioned Hegseth “is doing an exceptional job main the Pentagon.”
Secretary of Protection Pete Hegseth speaks to the media, throughout the annual White Home Easter Egg Roll occasion, on the South Garden of the White Home in Washington, April 21, 2025.
Leah Millis/Reuters
Using Sign to debate delicate army operations could complicate ongoing investigations into potential leaks involving the primary recognized group chat, which included high aides and different members of Hegseth’s crew — at the very least three of whom have been since fired in relation to the inquiry.
These officers — Dan Caldwell, Colin Carroll and Darin Selnick — have since spoken out towards what they are saying are baseless accusations towards them.
“Presently, we nonetheless haven’t been advised what precisely we had been investigated for, if there may be nonetheless an lively investigation, or if there was even an actual investigation of ‘leaks’ to start with,” they mentioned in a joint assertion on X on April 19.
Leavitt, when responding to the Hegseth information on Monday, additionally sought responsible former workers as she defended the protection secretary.
“The administration and the president have taken a really sturdy stance towards anybody who leaks, particularly delicate and categorised data that may put our troops and our warfare fighters in danger,” Leavitt mentioned on Fox. “And you have seen the secretary has taken very sturdy motion to rein within the leakers on the Pentagon and he’ll proceed to take action I am positive.”
ABC Information’ Luis Martinez and Kelsey Walsh contributed to this report.
