Top Trump administration officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, used the encrypted messaging app Signal to discuss U.S. military strikes in Yemen, raising serious security concerns. Experts and lawmakers argue that sharing such operational details outside of classified channels could have jeopardized military personnel.

While officials deny sharing classified intelligence, they have not refuted claims that sensitive military details were discussed. The breach has sparked bipartisan concern, with some calling for accountability.

“There are people whose lives are literally on the line, whether that's service personnel, whether that's intelligence personnel,” Michael Williams, associate professor of public administration and international affairs, tells Military Times. “These guys are supposed to be leaders of the free world, the responsible leaders of the military, the greatest country in the world, and they can't perform basic operational security.”

In the USA Today article “‘A bad signal’: Trump team's shifting SignalGate explanation,” Williams says, time, capability and targets are always classified information at the Pentagon. “Maybe he didn’t think it was classified information, but I was a very low-level staffer in government and that’s pretty basic,” he says.