President Donald Trump urged a reporter to cease questioning him about the “Signalgate” controversy, which has impacted his administration for several weeks. He labeled inquiries about the encrypted messaging issue as “wasted.”
During a press interaction on Air Force One on Thursday, Trump displayed frustration when a reporter inquired about the inspector general’s investigation into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of the Signal messaging app for discussing sensitive military operations.
Trump initially seemed confused, responding with, “What is it?”
After the reporter clarified the question regarding “an IG investigation into the secretary of defense’s use of the Signal app,” Trump’s tone shifted.
“Oh, is that? You’re bringing that up again?” Trump responded. “Don’t bring that up again. Your editor’s probably, that’s such a wasted story.”
The reporter moved to another topic, yet the brief exchange has revived discussions on the administration’s management of the scandal. It began when National Security Advisor Michael Waltz accidentally included Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, in a Signal group chat discussing military plans in Yemen and other sensitive security matters.
The Pentagon’s acting inspector general initiated the investigation at the Senate Armed Services Committee’s request to assess if Hegseth and other officials adhered to Department of Defense policies on using messaging apps for official work and followed classification and records retention requirements.
The Trump administration has repeatedly claimed no classified information was shared in the Signal chats. However, current and former military officials have raised doubts, noting that the details shared about military strikes, including specific timings of warplane launches and bomb drops, would generally be classified information.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has tried to minimize the controversy, stating that measures have been implemented to prevent similar incidents and declaring the case “closed.” Nevertheless, the inspector general’s investigation is still ongoing, with reviews in Washington, D.C., and at U.S. Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Florida.
The scandal has expanded beyond the initial leaked conversation. According to The Guardian, Waltz’s team has created at least 20 different Signal group chats to coordinate sensitive national security work, prompting additional questions about the administration’s information security practices and potential violations of federal record-keeping laws.
Democrats have demanded the resignations of Hegseth and Waltz over the incident. Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, has been particularly vocal about the need for accountability. Republican senators, including James Lankford and Roger Wicker, have also supported the probe, though Lankford described calls for Hegseth’s resignation as “overkill.”
Trump has previously stated he will not dismiss anyone involved in the Signal scandal and has maintained confidence in Waltz. The president has described the incident as a “glitch” with “no impact at all” operationally, and recently referred to the ongoing criticism as “the Radical Left’s Witch Hunt.”
Critics have used social media to encourage reporters to continue addressing the issue. Journalist Mehdi Hasan criticized both Trump’s reaction and the media’s response, writing: “Not sure what’s worse, the reporter asking a softball do you want to weigh in on that [Signalgate] or the reporter immediately moving onto another topic when Trump demands, like a little baby, that she doesn’t bring that up again.”
The Atlantic had sought permission to publish the full text of the Signal chat they accessed but was denied by the administration, citing that it contained sensitive information, seemingly contradicting the White House’s assertion that no sensitive material was shared. Nonetheless, The Atlantic published the messages on its website, underscoring the administration’s contradictory stance on the sensitivity of the information.
The broader controversy has raised significant questions about information security practices within the Trump administration. Reports suggest that beyond the Signal app usage, some government officials have been using personal Gmail accounts for official business, potentially compromising sensitive information and violating federal record-keeping requirements.
The investigation’s bipartisan nature is notable, with the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee jointly requesting the Pentagon probe. This signifies the seriousness with which lawmakers view the potential security breach, despite the administration’s efforts to minimize its significance.
As the inspector general’s investigation proceeds, the incident has underscored tensions between transparency, security protocols, and the handling of sensitive military information within the executive branch.
