Speaking to reporters traveling with him as he landed in Hawaii for his first trip to the Indo-Pacific as defense secretary, Pete Hegseth said “nobody was texting war plans and that’s all I have to say about that.”
Instead, Hegseth tried to discredit The Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg — who was added to the Signal chat by National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and reported on the texts — as “peddling garbage.”
WATCH: Journalist Jeffrey Goldberg on being included in a group chat on Yemen strike plans
The National Security Council has said the text chain in Signal “appears to be authentic.”
Hegseth is facing questions from members of Congress of both parties on the details he posted to Signal, which is a commercial app and is not classified. The National Security Council also said in a statement that it was looking into how a journalist’s number was added to the chat.
READ MORE: Trump officials texted war plans against Houthis to group chat that included a journalist
