Donald Trump urged to sack Pete Hegseth after reports emerge of second Signal war plans group chat

21 April 2025, 06:50

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Picture: Getty

By Henry Moore

Donald Trump has been urged to sack US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth after reports emerged he allegedly shared top-secret military details in a second Signal chat.

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Hegseth, alongside a host of other top White House officials, were left scrambling in March after it came to light a journalist had been added to a group chat on the commercially available app Signal, where details of a military airstrike against Yemen's Houthi militants were sent.

Hegseth allegedly created a second chat on the unauthorised app that included his wife and brother and shared similar details about the attack on the Houthi militants, the New York Times reports.

A person familiar with the contents and those who received the messages, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, confirmed the second chat to The Associated Press.

Read more: Israel fires deputy commander as it releases report into deadly IDF attack on aid workers in Gaza

One message from the first group chat shows Hegseth detailing a timeline and weapons systems to be used in an attack on the Houthis
One message from the first group chat shows Hegseth detailing a timeline and weapons systems to be used in an attack on the Houthis. Picture: The Atlantic

According to the source, this second chat contained detailed sensitive or classified defence information and included 13 people.

The New York Times reported the group included Hegseth's wife Jennifer, a former Fox News producer, and his brother Phil Hegseth, who was hired at the Pentagon as a Department of Homeland Security liaison and senior adviser.

Both have travelled with the defence secretary and attended high-level meetings.

Speaking late on Sunday, the White House branded this latest alleged security breach a “non-story.”

"No matter how many times the legacy media tries to resurrect the same non-story, they can't change the fact that no classified information was shared,” said White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly.

"Recently-fired 'leakers' are continuing to misrepresent the truth to soothe their shattered egos and undermine the president's agenda, but the administration will continue to hold them accountable."

Senior Democrats took to social media following the report, calling for Hegseth to lose his job and accusing him of “putting lives at risk.”

"The details keep coming out. We keep learning how Pete Hegseth put lives at risk. But Trump is still too weak to fire him," Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer posted on X.

"Pete Hegseth must be fired."