A.M. Edition for Mar. 25. Group-chat drama roils Washington after senior government officials, including Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, accidentally let a journalist in on sensitive war plans. Plus, Boeing eyes a chance to withdraw from a Biden-era guilty plea deal. WSJ aviation reporter Ben Katz explains how securing more lenient treatment in the case could be crucial for the embattled company’s recovery. And Canadians get cold feet about traveling south of the border. Luke Vargas hosts. Sign up for the WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: 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.
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Chapter 2: 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.
Chapter 3: 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.
Chapter 4: 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.
Chapter 5: What recent developments have occurred with the Mintz Group in China?
It's also got a lot of work to do in terms of its own corporate culture and manufacturing. But this would be a really big boon for the company.
Boeing and the Justice Department declined to comment. Coming up, Beijing releases employees of U.S. firm Mintz Group as it looks to encourage more foreign investment. Plus, the rest of the day's news after the break. China has released all detained employees of U.S. due diligence firm Mintz Group, marking the end of a two-year saga that unnerved American businesses operating in the country.
The detention of five Mintz employees, all Chinese nationals, after a March 2023 raid of its offices in Beijing sent shockwaves across foreign businesses.
The detention happened as Western companies were already feeling uneasy about operations in China. There had been multiple reports of exit bans of foreign staff, which essentially meant that these people were forbidden from leaving China because they were involved in government investigations and often really opaque ones. and it had introduced a suite of new laws to govern that.
Mintz, being a due diligence firm and also involved in corporate investigations, basically represented the possible fate of other foreign companies dealing with data if they too ran afoul of these new rules.
That's China tech reporter Lisa Lin, who says the release comes amid a wider push from Beijing to attract foreign investment.
It comes at a time when Beijing is launching its own charm offensive to woo Western businesses back to invest in China again, as Chinese officials are struggling to kickstart their own economy. Over the past two days, Beijing has held an annual forum, which is attended by prominent foreign businessmen and Chinese leaders.
And at that forum, Chinese officials basically touted their country as a force for stability and open trade.
Samsung's co-CEO and the head of its consumer electronics business has died from a heart attack with no immediate successor yet named. The news comes amid a slump in business for the South Korean tech giant that leaders have called a crisis.
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