White House Responds to Pete Hegseth Second Signal Chat Reports
April 21, 2025
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Ellie Cook is a Newsweek security and defense reporter based in London, U.K. Her work focuses largely on the Russia-Ukraine war, the U.S. military, weapons systems and emerging technology. She joined Newsweek in January 2023, having previously worked as a reporter at the Daily Express, and is a graduate of International Journalism at City, University of London. Languages: English, Spanish.You can reach Ellie via email at e.cook@newsweek.com.
Ellie Cook
Security & Defense Reporter
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The White House has insisted no classified information has been shared on messaging platform Signal after reports emerged that U.S. Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, shared information about upcoming military strikes in a second group chat that included his wife and brother.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s top defense official shared flight schedules for U.S. military F/A-18 Hornets targeting Houthi rebels in Yemen in a Signal group chat on the same day he shared attack plans in a separate group chat that had mistakenly included the editor of The Atlantic, according to a Sunday report by The New York Times.
The group chat included Hegseth’s wife, a former producer for Fox News, his brother and his personal lawyer, the newspaper reported, citing four people with knowledge of the matter.
“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,” White House deputy press secretary, Anna Kelly, said in a statement carried by multiple outlets.
“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,” she added.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, appear during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on February 26, 2025 in Washington, DC. U.S. President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, appear during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on February 26, 2025 in Washington, DC. Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
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