Donald Trump is standing behind Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, after reports that he shared details of a March attack on Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis in a message group that included his wife, brother, and personal lawyer.
The revelations that Hegseth used the unclassified messaging system Signal for a second time to share highly sensitive security details come at a delicate moment for him, with senior officials ousted from the Pentagon last week as part of an internal leak investigation into his earlier use of the app.
“The president stands strongly behind Secretary Hegseth, who is doing a phenomenal job leading the Pentagon,” Leavitt told Fox News. “And this is what happens when the entire Pentagon is working against you and working against the monumental change that you are trying to implement.”
Trump reiterated his support of Hegseth at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll event on the South Lawn, calling the report “fake news.”
Shortly before the event, the president took to Truth Social to renew his attacks on Jerome Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve, causing the Dow Jones Industrial Average to plummet.
Trump to meet with major retailers today
Trump pays tribute to Pope Francis
The late pope, who was born in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires as Jorge Mario Bergoglio, previously condemned the U.S. President’s stance on immigration during his first term in office in 2016.
Trump released a statement on the pope’s death, hours after the Vatican declared the news.
Madeline Sherratt reports.
Trump says media should ‘ask the Houthis’ how Hegseth is doing
President Donald Trump expressed his full support for his defense secretary following media reports that Pete Hegseth had shared sensitive military details in another Signal messaging chat, including with his wife and brother.
When asked by reporters at the White House Easter Egg Roll event if he still had confidence in Hegseth amid the latest revelations, Trump replied that the media should direct that question to the Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen, who have been enduring a barrage of U.S. airstrikes in recent weeks.
“Ask the Houthis how he’s doing,” Trump said. He added, “Ask the Houthis how much dysfunction…There is none.”
Trump also seemed to blame recently dismissed Pentagon aides for being responsible for the reports.
“It’s just fake news. They just bring up stories,” Trump said. “I guess it sounds like disgruntled employees. You know, he was put there to get rid of a lot of bad people, and that’s what he’s doing. So you don’t always have friends when you do that.”
Watch: Trump stands by Hegseth and says ‘everybody’s happy with him’
Vance trade talks with India make ‘significant progress’
Vice President JD Vance’s office says that “significant progress” has been made in trade talks with India.
Vance and his wife, Usha, met on Monday with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They discussed the U.S.-India Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA), which could possibly help to integrate supply chains between the two countries, according to a statement by Vance’s office.
Vance’s office said the talks had laid down “a roadmap for further discussions about our shared economic priorities.”
The Trump administration has prioritized trade deals that curb trade with China, the world’s dominant manufacturer, with Beijing threatening to retaliate against countries that strike deals with the U.S. to China’s detriment.
Per Vance’s office:
Vice President Vance and Prime Minister Modi welcomed significant progress in the negotiations for a U.S.-India Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) and formally announced the finalization of the Terms of Reference for the negotiations, laying down a roadmap for further discussions about our shared economic priorities. The BTA presents an opportunity to negotiate a new and modern trade agreement focused on promoting job creation and citizen well-being in both countries, with the goal of enhancing bilateral trade and supply-chain integration in a balanced and mutually beneficial manner. Guided by their respective visions of ‘Amrit Kaal for India’ and ‘Golden Age for America,’ BTA is expected to create new opportunities of growth for workers, farmers, and entrepreneurs in both countries.
Dow Jones falls 1,000 points as Trump renews attack on Fed chair Powell
Wall Street’s main indexes each slid to more than one-week lows on Monday after President Donald Trump doubled down on attacks against Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, amplifying concerns about the central bank’s autonomy and rattling markets.
Trump repeated his criticism of Powell, saying in a Truth Social post that the economy could slow down unless interest rates are lowered immediately.
This was the latest salvo in Trump’s continued criticism of the Fed chair, heightening worries about the central bank’s ability to independently formulate monetary policy in the world’s largest economy and undermining investor confidence in U.S. assets already diminished by Trump’s tariffs.
A White House adviser had said on Friday that Trump and his team would study whether firing Powell was an option.
After almost three hours of the trading day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down almost 1,100 points (2.75%), while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq had lost 2.83% and 3.08% respectively.
Congressional Democrats arrive in El Salvador
A group of Democratic lawmakers from the House of Representatives has arrived in El Salvador to pressure the Trump Administration to abide by a Supreme Court order to facilitate the return to the U.S. of wrongly deported Maryland father Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
Robert Garcia, Maxwell Frost, Yassamin Ansari, and Maxine Dexter will also advocate for other detainees held there without due process.
Frost posted on X: “Trump is illegally arresting, jailing, & deporting people with no due process. We must hold the Administration accountable for these illegal acts and demand Kilmar’s release. Today it’s him, tomorrow it could be anyone else.”
Said Dexter: “I am in El Salvador because I will not stand by while our country is thrown into a constitutional crisis. This is a moment to act. I will not rest until due process is upheld for all.”
Trump has signed just five bills into law as he nears 100 days in office
“These orders are extraordinary, not just in their number, but in their breadth,” said Rory Little, a law professor at the University of California- San Francisco said at a recent panel discussion. “The current state of affairs can be characterized I think with no exaggeration as a crisis, a challenge to the rule of the law in the United States.”
Mike Bedigan reports.
Trump took questions from reporters amid Easter festivities
President Donald Trump briefly spoke with reporters on the South Lawn amid the White House Easter Egg Roll event.
The president said he does not yet know whether he will attend the Pope’s funeral.
He expressed confidence in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and criticised the “fake news” media for the reporting on the second Signal group chat story.
On the question of whether Secretary Hegseth is doing a good job, Trump remarked: “Ask the Houthis.”
Read: Trump orders flags to half-staff to show respect to Pope
After announcing that he is ordering flags to half-staff as a mark of respect to Pope Francis, President Donald Trump released this statement via Truth Social:
As a mark of respect for the memory of His Holiness Pope Francis, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, on the day of interment. I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.
Source: independent.co.uk
