Trump Officials Debated War Plans on Unclassified Chat App
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How did Trump officials accidentally leak sensitive war plans?
Group chat drama Royals Washington after top officials accidentally led a journalist in on sensitive war plans.
This is one of the most stunning breaches of military intelligence I have read about in a very, very long time.
Plus, Boeing eyes a chance to withdraw from a Biden-era guilty plea deal, and Canadians get cold feet about traveling to the U.S. It's Tuesday, March 25th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. We begin in Washington following revelations that senior national security officials in the Trump administration discussed highly classified war plans to strike Houthi rebels in Yemen using a non-government messaging service and mistakenly included a journalist in the conversation. The chats over the encrypted Signal app included Vice President J.D. Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and others. The existence of the chats was first reported by The Atlantic, whose editor Jeffrey Goldberg was inadvertently included in the discussion, and a National Security Council spokesman confirmed the authenticity of the messages. Journal National Security Correspondent Michael Gordon has more.
What are the implications of using Signal for government communications?
Signal is a popular app for holding private discussions, but national security experts say that government security procedures do not allow it to be used to convey classified information. The government has its own secure communications channels for that. The subject is likely to come up Tuesday when top Trump administration officials testify to the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Administration officials say President Trump was frustrated by the episode and directed ire at Waltz, though it wasn't immediately clear if he'd move to oust him. Beyond representing a breach of security protocols, the chat exposed policy differences within the administration and candid views about U.S. allies. Vance, in particular, was skeptical of striking the Houthis, given that little U.S. trade passes through the Suez Canal and that the move would benefit Europe far more, saying, quote, I just hate bailing Europe out again. CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, both of whom were included in the signal chat, are set to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee at 10 a.m. Eastern.
Why is Boeing seeking to withdraw from a guilty plea deal?
We are exclusively reporting that Boeing is looking to withdraw from an earlier agreement to plead guilty in a long-running criminal case that blamed the company for deceiving regulators before two deadly crashes of its 737 MAX jets. According to people familiar with the matter, the aerospace giant is seeking more lenient treatment from the Justice Department after pleading guilty during the Biden administration. Journal aviation reporter Ben Katz says Boeing is hoping to benefit from the Trump administration's announcement that it's reviewing numerous criminal cases at the DOJ.
How could avoiding a guilty plea affect Boeing's future?
I don't think that we can really disconnect this from the new administration. Trump's team have indicated that they're open to taking a lighter touch towards white-collar enforcement. This would be a very high-profile example of that. Boeing clearly sees an opening here to be able to get a slightly more lenient deal in whatever form that takes from the Trump administration. And as Ben explains, avoiding a guilty plea could be crucial for Boeing's recovery. Boeing's case is of course really high profile and could potentially have significant ramifications on the company. A guilty plea could seriously impose on its ability to do defense work for the U.S. government, which is of course its biggest customer in terms of defense.
It could also bar it from doing international defense work, right? And if it can get that leniency, it will be really critical to help alleviate some of the crisis that Boeing is in at the moment. I wouldn't say this is a catch-all that would kind of wipe the slate clean. I mean, Boeing has a lot going through with it. It's facing cases from the families of the victims who died in the crashes.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
How did Trump officials accidentally leak sensitive war plans?
0:03–1:28
2
What are the implications of using Signal for government communications?
1:28–2:36
3
Why is Boeing seeking to withdraw from a guilty plea deal?
2:36–3:11
4
How could avoiding a guilty plea affect Boeing's future?
3:11–4:10
5
What recent developments have occurred with the Mintz Group in China?
4:10–9:01
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from WSJ What’s News
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