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Last Updated: March 29, 2025, 10:34 PM EDT

Fallout continues after it was learned that top officials in the Trump administration inadvertently added The Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg to an unsecured Signal group chat discussing a U.S. attack on Houthis in Yemen.

On Wednesday, the president signed an executive order that places a 25% tariff on foreign automakers -- escalating a global trade war with more tariffs on the horizon.

Mar 26, 2025, 3:04 PM EDT

Rubio says 'someone made a big mistake' with Signal group chat

Secretary of State Marco Rubio weighed in on the Signal debacle for the first time during a press conference in Jamaica, acknowledging that "obviously someone made a big mistake" but insisting that the overall mission was never jeopardized.

"Let me just say on the Signal thing--this thing was set up for purposes of coordinating how everyone was going to call…you know when these things happen, I need to call foreign ministers, especially of our close allies. We need to notify members of Congress. Other members of the team have different people they need to notify as well. And that was the purpose of why it was set up," Rubio said.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio weighed in on the Signal debacle for the first time, acknowledging that “someone made a big mistake and added a journalist.”
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Sec. of State Rubio on Signal chat: ' Someone made a big mistake'Secretary of State Marco Rubio weighed in on the Signal debacle for the first time, acknowledging that “someone made a big mistake and added a journalist.”
ABCNews.com

Rubio then spoke specifically to his contributions to the chat.

"I contributed to it twice. I identified my point of contact, which is my Chief of Staff, and then later on, I think three hours after the White House's official announcements have been made, I congratulated the members of the team," he said.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with Prime Minister of Jamaica Andrew Holness and local delegations at the Office of the Prime Minister in Kingston, Jamaica, Mar. 26, 2025.
Nathan Howard/Reuters

Pressed on whether the information shared was classified, Rubio pivoted to the administration's talking points on what specifically constitutes war plans.

Still, Rubio said the incident must be investigated.

"I think there'll be reforms and changes made so this never ... this was not going to happen again. It can't," he said.

-ABC News' Shannon Kingston

Mar 26, 2025, 2:37 PM EDT

Hegseth again denies he shared 'war plans' on Signal

Prior to boarding a flight to Guam from Hawaii, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made his most extensive comments yet about the Signal group and the information he shared about the Houthis. He continued to deny war plans were shared in the group chat.

"Nobody's texting war plans. I noticed this morning out came something that doesn't look like war plans. And as a matter of fact, they even changed the title to attack plans, because they know it's not war plans," Hegseth said. "There's no units, no locations, no routes, no flight paths, no sources, no methods, no classified information," he said without answering any more questions.

Secretary of Defense Peter Hegseth, Mar. 21, 2025, Jeffrey Goldberg, Editor-in-Chief, The Atlantic, Mar. 25, 2025 and White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, Feb. 20, 2025.
Getty Images/ABC News/AP

Mar 26, 2025, 1:38 PM EDT

Leavitt dodges question about firings over Signal, says Trump has confidence in national security team

Leavitt was asked if she could definitely say no one would lose their jobs over the Signal scandal.

"What I can say definitively is what I just spoke to the president about, and he continues to have confidence in his national security team," she responded.

Leavitt was asked numerous times about the Signal group chat and whether or not it had classified info but the exasperated press secretary refused to discuss it further./p>

Mar 26, 2025, 1:34 PM EDT

White House characterizes Signal chat as 'sensitive policy discussion'

The White House is continuing to assert that material included in the Signal group chat about a U.S. strike on Houthis in Yemen was not classified despite a second story published by The Atlantic on Wednesday disputing those claims.

Asked how they would characterize the discussion's contents to Americans, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it was a "sensitive policy discussion."

"I would characterize this messaging thread as a policy discussion, a sensitive policy discussion, surely, amongst high-level Cabinet officials and senior staff," Leavitt said. She added that "the American public should decide for themselves based on the outcome of this operation and what happened in this operation."

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during the daily briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, Mar. 26, 2025.
Carlos Barria/Reuters

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