Mike Waltz Used Signal for More Sensitive National Security Chats: Report
By Shane Croucher
U.S. national security adviser Mike Waltz used the Signal messaging app to host other sensitive discussions with Cabinet members, The Wall Street Journal has reported, citing two unnamed officials.
Among those discussions were threads on brokering peace between Russia and Ukraine, and military operations, according to the Journal.
Newsweek could not independently verify the report, and contacted the White House press office by email outside of normal business hours for comment.
Why It Matters
The use of apps such as Signal to discuss sensitive information raises serious questions about the security of communications at the highest levels of government, with potential implications for intelligence sharing by America's allies.
There is also the issue of government records preservation—a requirement of federal law—with the use of apps like Signal, where messages can be automatically deleted over time.
President Donald Trump has so far stood by Waltz, who has kept his job after saying he took full responsibility. But further reports about him, such as those in the Journal, and the prospect of investigations call into question his future.
U.S. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
U.S. national security adviser Mike Waltz at the U.S. military's Pituffik Space Base in Greenland on March 28, 2025. JIM WATSON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
What To Know
The use of Signal first came to light after The Atlantic's editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg revealed he was accidentally added to a chat group by Waltz in which there were discussions among top Cabinet officials about a forthcoming strike on Houthis in Yemen.
Included in the group were several top officials, including Waltz, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, among others.
Hegseth and others denied that any classified information was shared in the chat, which included the timings in advance of a planned strike by F-18s and U.S. drones against a Houthi target, and sharp criticism of European allies.
The Atlantic first characterized the chat as "war plans," language which later shifted to "attack plans". Hegseth denied that either description was accurate and said he was merely giving others in the cabinet a general update with nonspecific information.
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The watchdog group American Oversight has filed a lawsuit against the officials over their use of Signal, suggesting it violated the Federal Records Act because of its capacity to autodelete messages.
And there is growing bipartisan momentum for an investigation into officials' use of the Signal app over similar concerns, in addition to the handling of sensitive—and potentially classified—information on there.
What People Are Saying
National security adviser Mike Waltz wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter: "No locations. No sources & methods. NO WAR PLANS. Foreign partners had already been notified that strikes were imminent. BOTTOM LINE: President Trump is protecting America and our interests."
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters on Wednesday: "Nobody's texting war plans...There's no units, no locations, no routes, no flight paths, no sources, no methods, no classified information. You know who sees war plans? I see them. Every single day...My job...is to provide updates in real time. General updates in real time, keep everybody informed. That's what I did."
American Oversight's interim executive director Chioma Chukwu said in a previous statement sent to Newsweek: "The public has a right to know how decisions about war and national security are made—and accountability doesn't disappear just because a message was set to autodelete."
Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker, a Republican and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, wrote in a letter to the acting inspector general of the Defense Department asking for an investigation: "This chat was alleged to have included classified information pertaining to sensitive military actions in Yemen.
"If true, this reporting raises questions as to the use of unclassified networks to discuss sensitive and classified information, as well as the sharing of such information with those who do not have proper clearance and need to know."
Oklahoma Senator James Lankford, a Republican, told CNN on Sunday morning: "It's entirely appropriate for the [Department of Defense] inspector general to be able to look at it."
What Happens Next
Federal Judge James Boasberg ordered the agencies involved in the Signal chat that accidentally included a journalist to preserve all messages between March 11 and 15 and to provide an update to the court on Monday about their efforts to do so.
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