The first two months of the second Trump administration have been met with incredible controversy, surprisingly exceeding the levels set by Trump’s prior administration. From questionable cabinet picks to the high level of authority seen by a divisive figure in Elon Musk, the administration has faced plentiful scrutiny from the media and from the American public. However, the first true major scandal of the second Trump administration may have just occurred. Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, a major newspaper, was added to a group chat on an app called Signal. This group chat contained notable figures like Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and many other high profile Trump administration officials. In this chat, they were discussing key national security secrets, such as plans to attack Houthi rebels in Yemen, which raises an important question. How did a journalist get invited to a group chat where classified, national security information was being discussed, and how will this carelessness affect the American people?
On the campaign trail in 2016, Donald Trump often brought up “Hillary’s emails,” referencing the leakage of classified emails from Hillary Clinton’s time as Secretary of State during Obama’s first term. Republicans now are trying to claim the Signal leakage as the same, but Democrats and many in the media have been quick to refute this claim. While Clinton merely used a private account for some official emails, in this case, somebody negligently added Goldberg to this group chat, with no attention to detail. This may not have been on purpose, but its carelessness has opened the doors to speculation about how this administration is run. Already, there were massive questions about Pete Hegseth’s qualifications to be Secretary of Defense, but these questions have been amplified in the face of this scandal. Senator Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat from Illinois, stated on March 24 that “Pete Hegseth should never should have been tapped for this job.”
Overall, this situation has left many with more questions than answers. The Trump Administration and its allies have gone into defense mode, calling Goldberg’s claims false and, as National Security Advisor Michael Waltz said, “a hoax.” Despite the clear, physical evidence Goldberg provided, many Trump loyalists have rushed to the side of Trump. This scandal has, in the eyes of many, raised clear questions about the national security of the United States, and as the Senate holds hearings on this situation, we hope to receive more information as to what the administration was thinking when creating a group chat on an insecure server with public access.
