On MSNBC, the “Morning Joe” panel reacted with disbelief to an explosive report revealing a major security breach by President Donald Trump’s national security team. Jonathan Lemire reported that President Donald Trump is taking a “wait-and-see” approach after a report revealed that members of his team were discussing secret military plans in a group chat that mistakenly included a reporter.
A Trump official accidentally added Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, to an encrypted Signal app group chat. In that chat, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared sensitive details about a planned attack on the Houthi militia in Yemen, which took place just two hours later.
“This is a huge national security story,” said Lemire. “It’s one of the most stunning breaches we’ve seen in decades. One of the last texts seen by Jeffrey was Pete Hegseth saying that operational security was intact — clearly not the case.”
Lemire explained that Signal, though encrypted, isn’t meant for this type of sensitive information. “Signal is a commercial app anyone can download,” he said. “Conversations like this should be on secure government phones or in a secure facility where phones aren’t allowed. This was a massive security failure.”
Lemire also pointed out that it was national security adviser Michael Waltz’s mistake to add Goldberg to the chat. While Goldberg is a respected journalist, the contents of the messages were concerning.
“Hegseth denies there were any war plans, but these messages clearly laid out a sequence of attacks, which looks like a war plan,” Lemire said. “It’s a stunning breach.”
Lemire, who is a Morning Joe co-host and former White House correspondent for Politico, also noted that Trump is waiting to see how the story plays out in the media before deciding what actions to take.
“It seems like Trump is waiting for the media to react,” Lemire said. “He met with Waltz last night, and afterward, the press secretary issued a supportive statement. For now, Waltz’s position looks safe, but Hegseth may face more scrutiny, since he was the one sharing sensitive information in the chat.”
Lemire emphasized how serious the situation is. “These were military plans, involving bombings in Yemen, and they were celebrated with emojis in the chat—American flags, hearts, prayer hands. It’s a huge failure of security.”
He also reminded viewers that Trump’s campaign had criticized Hillary Clinton for mishandling classified information, but this breach is far worse.
Watch the full discussion on MSNBC below:
