Pete Hegseth

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Waltz Seemed to Be Using Signal in Cabinet Meeting

Modified app showed apparent chats with Vance, Rubio in photos

(Newser) - The day before Mike Waltz was ousted as President Trump's national security adviser, photographers captured him apparently using a modified version of the Signal app that got him in trouble during a Cabinet meeting. Reuters photos taken Wednesday show parts of several conversations Waltz was having about government business...

Hegseth Says He Ended 'Woke' Program Trump Made Law

He later said Biden 'ruined' Women, Peace and Security program

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth boasted on social media Tuesday that he had dismantled a program supporting women on security teams—and may not have realized the program he tried to break was not a "woke" Biden-era initiative but instead a celebrated program signed into law by his boss, President...

Hegseth's Chief of Staff Is Latest Pentagon Departure

Defense secretary says 'great American' Joe Kasper wasn't fired

(Newser) - Another senior Pentagon employee has departed—but unlike three top advisers fired last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's chief of staff wasn't escorted out of the building by security. Joe Kasper tells Politico that he is leaving the role and plans to return to government relations and consulting...

Hegseth Added Internet Line That Avoided Pentagon Security

Such an installation conceals the identity of the user

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had an internet connection that bypassed the Pentagon's security protocols set up in his office to use the Signal messaging app on a personal computer, two people familiar with the line told the AP . Known as a "dirty" internet line in the IT industry,...

Trump Asks SCOTUS to Allow Transgender Military Ban

President wants the ban to go forward while the court cases proceed

(Newser) - The Trump administration on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to allow enforcement of a ban on transgender people in the military while legal challenges proceed. As the AP reports, the high-court filing follows a brief order from a federal appeals court that kept in place a court order blocking the...

Hegseth Comes Out Swinging Over Rumored Makeup Studio

Defense secretary slams 'totally fake story' about upgrade to greenroom at Defense Department

(Newser) - Pete Hegseth is getting a brief respite from Signalgate with a much more frivolous development that's making headlines. Sources tell CBS News that the defense secretary recently threw down an order to modify a room adjoining the Pentagon's press briefing area, and that those plans included a request...

After Slight at Trump, Base Commander Suspended

Col. Sheyla Baez Ramirez disciplined after portraits of president, Hegseth were flipped to face a wall

(Newser) - The US Army has suspended a Wisconsin training base's first female commander after discovering portraits of President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had been flipped around to face a wall. The Army has posted an undated statement on Fort McCoy's website saying Col. Sheyla Baez Ramirez has...

Report: Hegseth Shared Info From Secure Military System

NBC News reports that details he shared on Signal were sent to him by top general

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared sensitive information about airstrikes on Yemen on the Signal app within minutes of receiving it from a general on a secure system used by the government, according to multiple reports. NBC News , citing "three US officials with direct knowledge of the exchanges," reports...

Trump: Hegseth Is 'Doing a Great Job'

GOP lawmaker says defense secretary should be fired over latest reports of Signal leak

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is rumored to be in danger of losing his job over the latest reports of sensitive information being shared in a Signal chat, but President Trump said Monday that he is "doing a great job. Just ask the Houthis how he's doing." Trump,...

Report: Hegseth Shared Attack Info in Another Signal Chat

This one reportedly included his wife, brother, personal lawyer

(Newser) - Signalgate is expanding: Four people tell the New York Times that, in addition to the infamous Signal chat that inadvertently included a journalist, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also used the messaging app to send sensitive military information to his wife, brother, and personal lawyer. The sources say that on March...

Report: 3rd Pentagon Aide Placed on Leave in Leaks Probe

Department of Defense has been investigating leaks to the media

(Newser) - Source say three senior Pentagon officials have now been placed on leave amid a probe into media leaks from the Department of Defense. The first was Dan Caldwell, one of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's senior advisers, who was escorted out of the Pentagon by security on Tuesday. Another Hegseth...

Report: Security Took Hegseth Aide Out of Pentagon

Sources tell Reuters Dan Caldwell was identified in investigation of leaks

(Newser) - A top aide to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was escorted out of the Pentagon by security on Tuesday after he was identified in an investigation of leaks of sensitive information, sources tell outlets including Reuters and Fox News . The sources say Dan Caldwell, one of Hegseth's senior advisors, has...

Hegseth Vows to 'Take Back' Panama Canal
Hegseth Vows
to 'Take Back'
Panama Canal
THE RUNDOWN
Apr 9, 2025 10:20 AM CDT

Hegseth Vows to 'Take Back' Panama Canal

He wants to free it from 'China's influence,' a remark that China isn't too pleased about

(Newser) - "China did not build this canal. China does not operate this canal. [A]nd China will not weaponize this canal. Together, we will take back the Panama Canal from China's influence." Those were Pete Hegseth's fighting words on Tuesday during his visit to Panama—the first by...

Female Admiral at NATO Who Was on 'Woke' List Gets Fired

Diversity support linked to removal, which marks third top female firing

(Newser) - The Trump administration has, for the third time, fired a top female military officer. US Navy Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, the sole woman on NATO's military committee, was ousted over the weekend, reportedly due to her support for diversity in the military, the AP reports. Sources say Adm....

Pentagon Watchdog Launches Hegseth Probe

Defense secretary's use of messaging app is being investigated after a request from senators

(Newser) - The Pentagon inspector general's office says it has launched a probe of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over his use of Signal to discuss military strikes—which was exposed when a journalist was accidentally added to the chat. In a Thursday l etter to Hegseth , acting Inspector General Steven Stebbin...

Hegseth: No More Fitness Breaks for Women in Combat

Says women must pass the same tests as men

(Newser) - A new order from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is expected to majorly reduce the number of US women in combat positions, per the New York Times . In an order dated Sunday, Hegseth mandated that the physical fitness requirements for all combat positions be "sex-neutral" by the end of October...

Hegseth Involves Wife, Brother in Pentagon

Jennifer Hegseth has attended meetings with foreign military officials, and Phil Hegseth now has a Defense job

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who's under criticism for not maintaining security in planning strikes in Yemen, brought his wife along to two meetings with foreign officials for discussions of sensitive military information. Jennifer Hegseth, a former producer for Fox News, is not an employee of the Defense Department, and...

Clinton Has a One-Word Take on Trump Administration

'Dumb,' former secretary of state says of Signal breach, many other moves Team Trump has made

(Newser) - "Dumb" is the operative word in Hillary Clinton's latest op-ed for the New York Times , in which she takes on former rival President Trump and his administration for "a string of self-inflicted wounds" since he took office, including the headline-making Signal breach that DOD chief Pete Hegseth,...

'Attack Plans' Versus 'War Plans'


Legal Angle
Emerges
in Signal
Controversy
the rundown
Mar 27, 2025 11:39 AM CDT

Legal Angle Emerges in Signal Controversy

And Trump nemesis Boasberg has been assigned the case

(Newser) - The White House is digging in on the Signal breach controversy, insisting that the information discussed in a text group wasn't as sensitive as critics allege. For proof, press chief Karoline Leavitt noted that a new Atlantic headline refers to "attack plans" instead of "war plans" and...

GOP Senators Join Calls for Probe of Signal Breach

Trump says it's 'all a witch hunt'

(Newser) - Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is calling for an inspector general investigation of the Signal breach. After the release Wednesday of the full exchange between top-level officials discussing a strike on Yemen, Wicker said he and Sen. Jack Reed, the panel's top Democrat,...

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