Trump's Trials - House Intelligence Committee grills national security officials over Signal chat

Episode Date: March 27, 2025

After the publication of a Signal chat with plans for striking Houthi rebels in Yemen, Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee grilled officials over their handling of national security, while Republicans urged a focus on the mission's success. NPR's A Martínez talks with national security correspondent Greg Myre.Support NPR and hear every episode sponsor-free with NPR+. Sign up at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

I'm Scott Detro and you're listening to Trump's terms from the NPR. We're going to be doing all sorts of things nobody ever thought was even possible. It's going to be a very aggressive first hundred days of the new Congress. An unpredictable, transformative next four years. The United States is going to take off like a rocket ship. Each episode we bring you the latest news about the 47th president and the policy changes he is pursuing on his own terms. We know from

experience that means challenging precedent, busting norms, and pushing against set ideas about what the federal government can and can't do. It all raises questions about how much Washington and the country will change over the course of this term. NPR is covering it all in stories like the one you are about to hear, right after this. A couple months ago, here at Planet Money, we stumbled across our favorite kind of economic mystery. Jack, what is this? A deal that seemed way too good to be true.

What I'm seeing here at least is that it's very high clarity. Join us on our adventure. Show me what you got. To find out exactly how much a diamond is worth. Planet Money from NPR, wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine, if you will, a show from NPR that's not like NPR, a show that focuses not on the important but the stupid, which features stories about people smuggling animals in their pants and competent criminals in ridiculous science studies, and call it Wait, Wait, Don't Tell

Me because the good names were taken. Listen to NVR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Yes, that is what it is called wherever you get your podcasts. I mean, Martinez, everyone can now read that group chat among senior national security officials who were discussing airstrikes in Yemen. But that doesn't mean this story is over. Democrats say they still have questions about how the Trump administration is handling national

security. Republicans, meanwhile, say it's time to focus on what they are calling a successful bombing campaign against the Houthis in Yemen. For more, we're joined by NPR's Greg Meyry. Greg, Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee really grilled top national security officials yesterday. What should we take away from that? Yeah, shortly before the hearing, the Atlantic magazine published details of the group chat

on March 15th among the top security officials. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave the timing for the attacks two hours before they began, and he laid out a timeline for the warplanes and the drones and how they would take off and win. Now, Democrats said this was a major security failure, providing details of an imminent military strike on the publicly available messaging app Signal, and as we know, they included Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor of The Atlantic. Here's Democrat Jason Crowe of Colorado who served as an Army Ranger in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is completely outrageous to me that administration officials come before us today with impunity.

Nobody is willing to come to us and say this was wrong. This was a breach of security and we won't do it again. So how are Trump administration officials responding? Well, CIA Director John Ratcliffe essentially said there's just nothing to see here. I used an appropriate channel to communicate sensitive information. It was permissible to do so.

I didn't transfer any classified information. And Defense Secretary Hegseth, writing on X, was also adamant that there was no classified information released, and other officials have said the same. Now, President Trump has been saying the same thing. He was a bit more ambiguous when asked Wednesday evening if he still thought that no classified information was disclosed. He said, quote, that's what I've heard. I don't know. I'm not sure. You have to ask the various people involved. All right. So if there's no formal investigation, I mean, what's going to happen now?

Well, Democrats say they'll keep pressing for details in this particular case, like whether national security officials have been using Signal for other chats, because, you know, it's more convenient, though clearly not as secure as government communication networks. More broadly, the Democrats are questioning Trump's foreign policy. Trump has boasted about efforts to arrange ceasefires in Gaza and the Ukraine War, but the Gaza ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has collapsed. Russia and Ukraine are still attacking each other despite US mediation efforts. So these haven't been quick successes that Trump had hoped for.

All right, so the bombing campaign in Yemen that the Trump administration say was successful. Enough evidence so far to say that? Not yet. Now the US forces have bombed the Houthis now for nearly two weeks, but we're getting relatively little information. Trump's team says the campaign will be much more robust than it was under the Biden administration and that they'll halt the Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, which the Houthis describe as solidarity with the Palestinians. But the Houthis have proved very tough and it's just not clear whether a U.S. bombing campaign, even if it's sustained for a while, can end these attacks and return shipping to normal

levels. All right. That's NPR's Greg Meyre. Greg, thanks. Sure thing, eh? And we'll note here that NPR CEO Catherine Maher chairs the board of the Nonprofit Signal Foundation. And before we wrap up, a thank you to our NPR Plus supporters, who hear each show without

sponsored messages and of course who help protect independent journalism. If you are not a supporter yet, you can visit plus.npr.org to find out how you can get a ton of podcast perks across dozens of NPR shows, like bonus episodes, exclusive merchandise, and more. Again, that's plus.npr.org. I'm Scott Detro. Thanks for listening to Trump's Terms from NPR. Making time for the news is important, but when you need a break, we've got you covered on All Songs Considered, NPR's music podcast. Think of it like a music discovery show, a well-deserved escape with friends, and yeah, some serious music insight.

I'm gonna keep it real. I have no idea what the story is about. Hear new episodes of All Songs Considered every Tuesday, wherever you get podcasts. of all songs considered every Tuesday wherever you get podcasts. This is Tonya Mosley, co-host of Fresh Air. You'll see your favorite actors, directors, and comedians on late night TV shows or YouTube, but what you get with Fresh Air is a deep dive. Spend some quality time with people like Billie Eilish, Questlove, Ariana Grande, Stephen Colbert, and so many more. We ask questions you won't hear asked anywhere else.

Listen to the Fresh Air podcast from NPR and WHY Live.