Signal-Gate 2: U.S. Defense Secretary leaks classified military information again

According to the report, Hegseth shared details of a March attack on Yemen’s Ansarallah forces in a messaging group that included his wife, brother, and personal attorney.

This second Signal leak raises further questions about Hegseth’s use of an unclassified messaging app to share highly sensitive security information, especially at a critical time when several senior U.S. officials were dismissed last week due to investigations into Pentagon leaks.

In the second chat, Hegseth, a former Fox News host with no military or political experience, shared details similar to those published last month by The Atlantic. In the previous Signal-related scandal, The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was mistakenly added to another Signal group, causing an embarrassing incident that implicated senior national security officials in the Trump administration. The first Signal group, which sparked the initial controversy, was created by Trump’s National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz, who took responsibility for it. However, the second group was personally created by Hegseth.

An anonymous source revealed that the second chat included about a dozen people and was established during Hegseth’s confirmation process to discuss administrative matters, not detailed military planning. The source noted that the chat also contained details about the timing of airstrikes.

Hegseth’s wife, Jennifer, a former Fox News producer, has been present at sensitive meetings with foreign military officials, according to Pentagon-released images. During a March meeting with his British counterpart at the Pentagon, she was seen standing behind him. Additionally, Hegseth’s brother serves as a liaison between the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon.

These leaks come at a time when the Trump administration has been aggressively cracking down on leaks, an effort zealously pursued by Hegseth at the Pentagon. In response to this crisis, Democratic lawmakers stated that Hegseth can no longer remain in his position.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote on X: “Every day, we learn more about how Pete Hegseth has endangered lives. Yet Trump is still too weak to fire him. Pete Hegseth must be removed.”

Senator Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran severely injured in 2004 during deployment, said Hegseth “must resign in disgrace.”

Many users sharing the New York Times report emphasized that “Signal-Gate” has returned, marking yet another instance of such mistakes by U.S. officials. One user wrote that Republican senators knew appointing someone like Hegseth was a bad idea but were pressured by the president’s allies to confirm him.

An account called “Republicans Against Trump” sarcastically remarked on Hegseth’s Fox News background and alleged alcohol issues, stating: “Who could’ve predicted that putting a weekend Fox & Friends host—with a drinking problem and no qualifications—in charge of the Defense Department would lead to disaster?”

This new revelation comes just days after Dan Caldwell, one of Hegseth’s senior advisors, was identified and dismissed from the Pentagon amid leak investigations. While less prominent than other senior Pentagon officials, Caldwell played a key role for Hegseth and was named by the Defense Secretary as the Pentagon’s point person in the first Signal chat.