‘Witch hunt’: Questions over Signal chat leak irk Trump

Go back to your country: US Rep to UK journo

• New York: Republican representative from Georgia Marjorie Taylor Greene, a pro-Donald Trump Congresswoman, asked a British reporter to “go back to your country” when she was questioned about a leaked Signal group chat of senior US officials about a planned military strike on Yemen
• The journalist attempted to ask Greene about the controversy when the politician cut her off, demanding to know where she was from
• When the journalist replied that she was from the UK, Greene launched a scathing attack and said, “We don’t give a crap about your opinion and your reporting. Why don’t you go back to your country where you have a major migrant problem?”

The Trump administration struggled Wednesday to stem the fallout from revelations that top national security officials discussed sensitive attack plans over a messaging app and mistakenly added a journalist to the chain.

The White House said the information shared through the publicly available Signal app with Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine, was not classified, an assertion that Democrats said strained credulity considering that it detailed plans for an upcoming attack on Yemen’s Houthis.

President Donald Trump during an Oval Office appearance to announce new tariffs on imported vehicles seemed frustrated as reporters repeatedly questioned him about the matter. “I think it’s all a witch hunt,” Trump said.

The decision on determining whether the information is classified ultimately lies with Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, who in the chain listed weapons systems and a timeline for the attack — “THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP,” he wrote.

Sen Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the position that the Trump administration was staking out could be described with one word: “Baloney.”

“When you describe time, place, type of armaments used: Do they think the American public is stupid?” Warner said in an exchange with reporters.

There are no signs that the controversy will fade soon for Trump, who has said he stands by his national security team and has assailed the reporter’s credibility. At the same time, he has made clear his preference for his team to discuss such operations in person and in more secure settings, though it is not yet clear if changes will be implemented as a result.

Sen Roger Wicker, the Republican chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he and Sen Jack Reed, the committee’s top Democrat, will send a letter to the Trump administration requesting an expedited inspector general investigation into the use of Signal.

They are also calling for a classified briefing with a top administration official “who actually has the facts and can speak on behalf of the administration”.