The Morning: Secrets on Signal

Plus, tariffs, a detained Tufts student and a space telescope.

View in browser|nytimes.com March 27, 2025 Good morning. Today our colleague Julian Barnes, who covers intelligence, explains how the Signal leak could have happened. We're also covering tariffs, a detained Tufts student and a space telescope. At the U.S. Capitol. Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times Signal secrets By Julian E. Barnes I cover U.S. intelligence and international security. Why does it seem so hard to keep government information classified? Donald Trump and Joe Biden both took top-secret documents to their houses. Hillary Clinton kept State Department emails on a personal server. This week, the White House added a journalist to a group chat about bombing Yemen. The administration argues it wasn't a big deal. But security experts say the Signal thread, in which The Atlantic's editor was accidentally included, was a sloppy and dangerous mistake. There are several reasons this sort of lapse keeps happening — and the Trump administration is uniquely prone. Today's newsletter will break them down and explain the stakes. Hard to use There are computer systems designed to discuss war plans and other secrets. They are accessible only in secured rooms, and it's very difficult for foreign powers to penetrate them. You can't bring your personal devices into these rooms, which are not connected to the web. But all that security makes them cumbersome and annoying. In most secured rooms, you can't toggle between work and social media, the way most of us do. You can't scroll through a classified feed while watching "The White Lotus." For all but the top officials, who have Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities, or SCIFs, built at their homes, you have to go into the office to check on "the high side," the slang for the secret computer networks. Government officials, including new political appointees like the ones in the Signal chat, are trained on the proper protocols, and it can be a crime to violate them. But it's hard to toggle between an economic speech in Michigan, which the vice president was giving on the day he weighed in, and the monkish habits needed to interact with restricted material. Biden administration officials sometimes used Signal, too, though more for directing colleagues to SCIFs for updates than for sharing the government secrets that could be found there. Trump's style National security officials before a Senate committee. Kenny Holston/The New York Times Those hassles are at odds with the pledge that Trump administration officials have made to simplify government work and remove red tape. Trump claims he has a mandate from voters who think the government doesn't work. He has flayed the Biden and Obama White Houses for a deliberative process that made government work slowly. So his administration has moved fast — often too fast, not always thinking through the consequences of its actions. In a quest to reduce the work force, the C.I.A. fired many of its employees working in diversity initiatives, never mind that many were talented recruiters of spies. In some cases, the administration has had to painfully undo decisions that went too far. It dismissed government scientists and regulators overseeing nuclear plants and then had to rehire them for safety reasons. That attitude is evident in the officials' use of Signal, a commercial messaging app with lots of encryption — but not enough to satisfy the government's high standards for secrecy. The app runs on personal phones, and those are vulnerable. Personal phones can be hacked by nation states and companies. Still, a SCIF is a form of red tape. Texting your colleagues to get work done is more efficient. The emphasis on action may also have caused the original mistake. Mike Waltz, Trump's national security adviser, or someone using his phone, added the journalist. It was a user error. In another administration, someone might have double-checked, but not this time. Why it matters Russia has shared intelligence with the Houthis, the rebels and pirates targeted in the Yemen bombing. At a House hearing yesterday, one Democrat, Mike Quigley of Illinois, asked what would have happened if the Houthis had the details in the chat. (Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told the group on Saturday that F-18s would be arriving at 1:45 p.m., for instance.) The Houthis have shot down American drones and fired at U.S. ships. They have coastal defense and anti-air missiles. Maybe if they'd foreseen the attack, they could have threatened the safety of American pilots. It is not something on which the government usually gambles. At the hearing, America's spy chiefs — the director of intelligence and the head of the C.I.A. — said no classified information had been shared. And it's true that those two officials said little in the chat. But Hegseth shared enough for the Russians to know what was happening. It's reasonable to believe that Trump officials have used Signal before and would have again if they hadn't been caught. Based on their apologias this week, perhaps they still will. But the scandal puts a bull's-eye on Signal. The Chinese already have access to U.S. mobile networks and have intercepted the calls of prominent Americans, including Vice President JD Vance. It would be relatively easy for them to gain access to the next round of chats. So imagine a different scenario, the next one, in which the subject is not bombing Houthis but deploying American ships and planes to protect Taiwan. If China knew about U.S. plans, it could pre-empt, outflank or outsmart the Americans. It could jeopardize American lives. It could seize Taiwan before the United States had time to act. Perhaps that prospect will eventually scare officials back into their SCIFs. It's what they were built for. For more The Atlantic published the full exchange. See the messages here, annotated by Julian and other Times journalists. In the days since the chat was revealed, the Trump administration has offered shifting, sometimes contradictory and often implausible explanations. The White House's defense relies heavily on semantics — like "war plans" versus "battle plans" — to obscure the severity of its error, David Sanger writes. Late-night hosts joked about the leak. THE LATEST NEWS Tariffs Trump said he would impose a 25 percent tariff on cars and auto parts shipped into the U.S. Trump's aim is to grow domestic manufacturing, but the fees could drive up consumer prices significantly. Regulators will have to navigate a complex supply chain: Even cars made in America are built with parts that come from all over the world. The tariffs could be particularly tough on Germany, which exports cars from Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and BMW. Public Media Hearing Katherine Maher, chief of NPR; and Paula Kerger, chief of PBS. Anna Rose Layden for The New York Times At a congressional hearing, Republicans accused the leaders of PBS and NPR of using publicly funded media to push left-wing views. The broadcast officials defended their programming as unbiased. Democrats mocked the hearing as an inquisition. Robert Garcia, a California Democrat, asked jokingly: "Is Elmo now, or has he ever been, a member of the Communist Party?" Public broadcasters have been through this before: In 1969, testimony by Fred Rogers helped stave off plans to cut PBS's funding. Supreme Court The Supreme Court upheld the Biden administration's restrictions on "ghost guns," homemade firearms that can be easily assembled from kits. The 7-to-2 decision, written by Neil Gorsuch, a conservative justice, was a rare instance of tightening restrictions by a court that has taken an expansive view of gun rights. The Biden administration's rules do not ban the kits, but they do require sellers to obtain licenses and conduct background checks. Read more about ghost guns. More on the Trump Administration Trump signed an order to give the executive branch more control over federal elections. It is sure to be challenged in court, Nick Corasaniti writes. Elon Musk has invested more than $20 million in Wisconsin's Supreme Court election. This is raising concerns among Democrats, who see it as an attempt to influence the court's decision on a Tesla lawsuit. ICE agents in plainclothes and unmarked cars detained an international student at Tufts as she left her off-campus apartment. See the video. Health The Department of Health and Human Services canceled over $12 billion in federal grants to states. This will affect programs for infectious diseases, mental health and addiction treatment. The Trump administration also canceled funding for research on vaccines and treatments for future pandemics. Measles cases are surging in Kansas, Ohio, and Texas. Middle East The Israeli Parliament approved a new budget that cements Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's power and includes significant military spending. Palestinians in Gaza protested against the war for a second straight day. The demonstrations were rare shows of dissent against Hamas. More International News A Sudanese Army soldier. Ivor Prickett for The New York Times Sudan's military recaptured the capital, Khartoum, which the rival Rapid Support Forces had occupied since a brutal civil war broke out nearly two years ago. Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil's former president, will face trial for attempting a coup after he lost the 2022 election. South Korea admitted that adoption agencies committed widespread fraud decades ago as they sent children to American and European homes for profit. Adoption agencies falsified documents to present babies as orphans when they had known parents. The British authorities issued a record fine against the University of Sussex. Regulators found that the school's policy on transgender equality limited what staff members could teach or say about sex and gender. Other Big Stories Germany is grappling with its fascist past and at the same time faces ascendant extremism. Against that background, a difficult question has arisen: Where should Nazis be buried? Vigilantes known as "pedophile hunters," who film themselves confronting people who message minors online, are growing more violent in their exploits, a Times analysis found. After more than 10 years, the Gaia space telescope will be switched off and sent into orbit around the sun. The telescope has gathered data on nearly two billion stars, millions of potential galaxies and some 150,000 asteroids, transforming astronomy. Opinions Foreign governments can rest easy knowing that Trump's team will leak sensitive information over and over again, Noah Shachtman writes. Here is a column by David French on the group chat. A subscription to match the variety of your interests. News. Games. Recipes. Product reviews. Sports reporting. A New York Times All Access subscription covers all of it and more. Subscribe today. MORNING READS Human vs. machine: Can you solve a puzzle used to test advanced A.I. models? Guilt-free treats: We are living in the golden age of prebiotic sodas. Figure skating: At 25, Amber Glenn has broken through at an age when many of her peers have retired. She's competing this week at the world championships in Boston. Aging: It can be challenging to stay mentally sharp and healthy after retirement. Experts shared some advice. Most clicked yesterday: For the third day in a row, our most popular story was about 18 things you didn't know your iPhone could do. Lives Lived: While climbing the ranks of the K.G.B., Oleg Gordievsky was working for British intelligence as one of its most highly placed moles. He also played a crucial role in preventing what could have become World War III. He has died at 86. SPORTS M.L.B.: Today is Opening Day, and the Los Angeles Dodgers open as huge favorites to win the World Series again. N.B.A.: LeBron James scored the game-winning bucket in the Lakers' victory over Indiana. Men's college basketball: The N.C.A.A. Tournament resumes tonight, and No. 1 seed Duke remains the favorite, according to The Athletic. ARTS AND IDEAS Kathleen Fu Americans are spending more time on their own, and solo restaurant reservations are on the rise. But many find eating alone awkward, and many restaurateurs limit tables for one because they don't make as much money. Read more about why dining alone is so hard. More on culture Two of the more detestable characters on the new season of "The White Lotus" are Duke grads. Duke isn't happy about that. Gwyneth Paltrow and Meghan Markle posted a video together to address rumors that they were feuding, The Cut reports. The newly opened Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne archives at the New York Public Library reveal unseen aspects of their family and writing life. Old-school metal braces are making a comeback as a status symbol, The Washington Post reports. The South Korean government is trying to get its young people married. But even a $14,000 payment isn't working, The Wall Street Journal writes. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Use boneless chicken thighs to make a creamy, cozy chicken stew. Sleep better after this yoga routine. Use a fast charger for your device. GAMES Here is today's Spelling Bee. Yesterday's pangram was flexion. And here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. Correction: Yesterday's newsletter misstated the size of Target's campus in Bengaluru, India. It's roughly one-third the size of the company's Minneapolis headquarters, not the same size. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for the Morning newsletter from The New York Times, or as part of your New York Times account. To stop receiving The Morning, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request. 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