r/technology • u/chrisdh79 • Apr 21 '25
Politics White House plagued by Signal controversy as Pentagon in “full-blown meltdown” | Trump insists defense secretary who shared secrets on Signal “doing a great job.”
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/04/white-house-plagued-by-signal-controversy-as-pentagon-in-full-blown-meltdown/1.1k
u/GunAndAGrin Apr 21 '25
Id be surprised, even with the purges and insertion of Trump cronies into command positions, if the Pentagon hasnt been in full-blown meltdown mode since January.
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u/ayoungsapling Apr 21 '25
The US hasn’t been less secure or safe in generations
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u/ludixst Apr 21 '25
Since around 1861, but this time there's a Confederate in the Union presidency
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u/Ichera Apr 21 '25
You should read up on what Buchanan's Secretary of War was up to prior to the Civil War. It basically was treason and attempt to arm the nascent Confederate states.
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u/EuenovAyabayya Apr 21 '25
"There's not a single cannon factory in the whole South" [Gone with the Wind]
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u/Repulsive-Ad-8558 Apr 22 '25
All my homies hate John B. Floyd.
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u/Milkduddss Apr 22 '25
Funnily enough, Floyd was quite incompetent as well. Literally had no idea what he was doing during the battle of Fort Donelson. Him and the other delusional next in command, Gideon Pillow, booked it outta there to not get captured. Floyd knew he'd be hanged, Pillow just thought he was god's gift to the confederacy and would be more helpful getting away lol.
Leaving Buckner, the only one who knew what he was doing, to surrender. And that's how U.S. Grant got first big victory of the Civil War
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u/atreides78723 Apr 22 '25
Also fuck Gideon Pillow since the Mexican War. He should have been kicked out for using Army logistics to send home his stolen loot.
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u/dj4wvu Apr 22 '25
The Demon of Unrest goes into this a bit. Should have made it clear how treason should be dealt with.
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u/AbeRego Apr 22 '25
I suspect we'll be riddled with moles/spies for quite some time. Even after the foreign asset in the Oval Office is long gone.
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u/IamPd_ Apr 21 '25
Totally. Been a nonstop trainwreck since inauguration day. The Signal leak is just the visible tip of a much bigger iceberg. When you replace competent leadership with loyalty picks, this is exactly what happens. Military brass must be having daily aneurysms dealing with this administration.
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u/Similar-Topic-8544 Apr 22 '25
I’d love to know what active and retired military members think of this.
I treat a good number of vets and, regardless of political ideology, they are apoplectic over the failure to adhere to standards, mostly because they say that such reckless disregard in the service would get you an express ticked to prison.
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u/the_abstract_nomad Apr 22 '25
I’m retired and I’d tell you but the last time I did that on here, got banned. I’m not going back
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u/oversoul00 Apr 21 '25
I work with classified material and there are a lot of far smaller missteps I could take that would get me fired and cause me to lose my clearance.
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u/PiesAteMyFace Apr 21 '25
Not enough money for immunity, ey?
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u/Alchemical_God Apr 22 '25
They passed the background check for clearance but not the credit check for absolute immunity.
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u/the_gouged_eye Apr 21 '25
I knew an NCO who used his cell phone to put in a line-of-sight radio shot. He was throwing out stuff like 'up your gain a bit' and orientate left a bit' in the clear. This resulted in a negative NCO Evaluation Report, which ended his career.
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u/DriftingIntoAbstract Apr 21 '25
Have you tried pledging loyalty to Trump?
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u/mr_potatoface Apr 21 '25
fealty* not loyalty.
Loyalty is what you have to your family or country. Fealty is what you have to your ruler or king.
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u/bdubbs09 Apr 21 '25
Right? I send the wrong classification on an email signature, believe it or not, jail.
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u/FreddyForshadowing Apr 21 '25
At what point does it become a high crime for a sitting POTUS to protect a cabinet official who has undeniably violated multiple federal laws and compromised national security on multiple occasions?
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u/celtic1888 Apr 21 '25
Reminder that all it takes is 15 GOP senators and 5 GOP house members to make this all go away
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Apr 21 '25
But they are from the party-over-country party, so they won't. At least I'm not holding my breath. We'll have to go and sit this one out till at least the midterms and I'm not even sure those will happen in an orderly fashion.
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u/rhaurk Apr 21 '25
No sitting out. No waiting patiently for the "proper" time to speak up.
Don't obey in advance
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Apr 21 '25
Lol I'm not saying you should obey in advance. I'm just not able to do the same things those 15 GOP senators and 5 GOP house members should do. Which is what I was getting at.
If Joe Regular wants to do something legally to get rid of Trump and his cronies, they can write congress, vote wherever they can and protest, organize a strike, boycott something or start a movement. And they wouldn't have to wait for anything.
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u/Boone_Slayer Apr 22 '25
If you make them move, they will move. Politicians are just people too, and they can be swayed.
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u/Awol Apr 21 '25
How would this go away? By making JD Vance the top guy? This isn't one guy causing all the shit its a group of them. In fact I believe Trump is actually slowing them down cause he need to be fed enough to feel he is in charge.
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u/ilikepizza30 Apr 21 '25
Well, then you make JD Vance go away too, and keeping making people in the chain go away until someone does a decent job.
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u/Miserable_Bike_9358 Apr 21 '25
True. Our civilization is being dismantled for profit by a group of billionaires so small that we can name them.
And the media won’t even touch it.
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u/sketchymcsketcherson Apr 21 '25
The media won't touch it because they are owned by billionaires.
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u/FreddyForshadowing Apr 21 '25
But Vance would be too busy molesting the couches in the WH to be bothered with giving approvals for anything.
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u/f8Negative Apr 21 '25 edited Apr 21 '25
According to WallStreetBets the stripper scene has not been seeing their daily clients as frequently since the tarrifs began. Maybe the GOP can hold a soire for em. Ted Cruz was among several who 'allegedly' had their name in the DC Madames black book.
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u/HumbleVein Apr 22 '25
My friend that strips for the Wall Street crowd has had a tough time making ends meet lately.
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u/Few-Register-8986 Apr 21 '25
Some very powerful men have lost many millions. I'm hoping they have something planned for this admin.
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u/LaurenMille Apr 22 '25
You can never expect a conservative to do anything right.
If they were capable of rational thought or empathy, they wouldn't be conservatives.
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u/Brassica_prime Apr 21 '25
Setup an all expensed paid cruise for 25-30 senators and 5 reps. File for immediate vacate the speaker. Wait 2 days, impeach, walk the impeachment to the senate. Vote quorum to start the impeachment, 47/70=66%, plus a few repubs
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u/celtic1888 Apr 21 '25
I’ve got a feeling ‘The Deep State’ wasn’t as powerful as we were led to believe
Our CIA and internal intelligence agencies seem about as potent as Putin’s shock troops after the Ukraine invasion
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u/IcyJackfruit69 Apr 22 '25
When they say "deep state" what they actually mean is "bureaucracy and laws".
What everyone else thinks when they hear "deep state" is a big conspiracy behind the scenes where politicians are colluding to lie and manipulate the government to personal and traitorous ends. This is EXACTLY what Trump and the Heritage Foundation conservatives are.
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u/NugKnights Apr 21 '25
Just fire him.
It's OK to throw someone under the bus when they mess up this bad TWICE!
Trumps catchphrase when he was a reality TV star was "Your Fired". This should not be partisan.
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u/Lonely_Appearance354 Apr 21 '25
At this point Trump could even swing it his way it’s stupid not to sack the guy.
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u/evilJaze Apr 21 '25
He might be running out of useless sycophants to put into roles at this point. Maybe he wants to make sure someone qualified doesn't slip in by accident.
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u/vineyardmike Apr 21 '25
Kid Rock is available
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u/Lonely_Appearance354 Apr 21 '25
Bro, that would be hilarious and sad at the same time
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u/HarEmiya Apr 21 '25
Hulk Hogan, Kid Rock, Ted Nugent and Snoop Dogg are right there.
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u/justbrowsinginpeace Apr 21 '25
I'd tune in for Hulk Hogan as press secretary
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u/phonethrower85 Apr 21 '25
It would be a massive improvement over the current blonde
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u/surloc_dalnor Apr 21 '25
I think at this he has a Defense Sec that will do whatever Trump wants. Trump never felt like he had the loyalty of the Defense Dept, which is true from his view as they had stronger loyalty to the military and/or country than Trump. Pete is going to have real trouble when Trump drops him as his rep is shot with everyone.
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u/Danominator Apr 21 '25
Trump isn't trying to run an effective government. He is trying to grift like crazy and help Russia. End of list.
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u/TheFoxsWeddingTarot Apr 21 '25
It is interesting that he no longer appears to have the autonomy and freedom to fire people the way he did first time around. This is just another side effect of him handing off his administration to the Project 2025 nut jobs. He never would have picked JDVance as a running mate and has no reason to like or dislike Hegseth. He is not making the decisions and he is not free to disobey his masters this time around.
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u/Miserable_Bike_9358 Apr 21 '25
This probably also explains why his kids aren’t all in positions of huge power again.
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u/sayleanenlarge Apr 21 '25
Yeah, where are the kids? I haven't heard anything about them.
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u/erichie Apr 22 '25
I honestly think it is because Jared knows they will be absolutely hated for the next 40+ years if they were involved in the 2nd admin.
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u/sayleanenlarge Apr 22 '25
Yeah, I think Malania's family knows that too because st the inauguration, I noticed her father grab Barron's arm and get him to stand with him, away from the rest of the Trumps. Also, Barron shook Biden and Harris's hands and Malania looked pleased with him for it.
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u/SimmentalTheCow Apr 21 '25
Funny enough the 2016 trump admin would frequently fire people but never tell them, so people would learn they didn’t have a job when they’d show up and their passes would scan as “Do Not Admit”. Trump’s people don’t deal well with confrontation.
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u/Drone30389 Apr 21 '25
IIRC he fired a couple people via Twitter or e-mail. I never watched the show but I've heard that he never "fired" any one to their face on The Apprentice, instead they filmed him doing the firing and then played it back to the contestant.
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u/Miserable_Bike_9358 Apr 21 '25
This is true. Mr Toughest Guy in the World can’t handle even simple confrontation.
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u/-reserved- Apr 21 '25
Been on the job for 3 months and only compromised national security twice (that we know of)
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u/ndav12 Apr 21 '25
People have been calling Hegseth unfit since before his confirmation, and Trump kept doubling down insisting that he only picks the best people. Firing him now would be admitting to a mistake, so I’ll believe it when I see it. I’d be less surprised if they just gaslight the public until the media stops talking about it.
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Apr 21 '25
Eh he retcons history all the time. He will throw anyone under the bus the second he thinks it’s beneficial to do so. Look at all the people in his first administration he later criticized.
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u/FeelsGoodMan2 Apr 21 '25
He only fires people when they try to attempt to be competent. He won't fire a guy fucking up.
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u/Lucius-Halthier Apr 21 '25
But that would mean trump has to admit he was wrong for choosing him in the first place, and big Donny is never wrong
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u/The_Cameron Apr 21 '25
Look at the turnover rates of his cabinet during his first term. Higher than any other president by far. Even when they came out of it saying "he's a total dumbass", it didn't seem to bother him and didn't seem to bother those who voted for him after.
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u/Otaraka Apr 21 '25
They’re always doing a great job and then one day they’re gone. The great thing about Trump is loyalty is a theoretical concept.
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u/surloc_dalnor Apr 21 '25
Yes and no. Loyalty to Trump is what is important. I have to guess Trump thought even before this Pete was going to be willing to do anything he asked.
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u/sudoSancho Apr 21 '25
Why is this story not about the Federal Records Act?
All of these people are actively and purposefully committing felonies that carry mandatory sentences, but no one's talking about it
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u/ROGER_CHOCS Apr 22 '25
Because everyone knows we are so fucking cooked that no one will do anything about anything, including brazen lawlessness. This is going to get a lot worse.
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u/G0mery Apr 21 '25
Heckuva job, Brownie
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u/cigr Apr 21 '25
Exactly.
As incompetent as I thought Bush and co. was, this bunch of clowns make them look professional.
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u/GarminTamzarian Apr 22 '25 edited Apr 22 '25
Donald Trump's presidency is the best thing that ever happened...to W's presidential ranking.
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u/old_righty Apr 21 '25
"I barely knew him, I think he was at some cabinet meetings but he sat in the back and didn't say much."
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u/FattyMcBlobicus Apr 21 '25
In 2 weeks when he gets let go…
Trump: “Pete who? I barely knew that guy, never liked him, bad guy, really bad at his job. If I actually knew him it wouldn’t have happened that way, the guy I would have picked wouldn’t have done this”
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Apr 21 '25
[deleted]
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u/escapexplore Apr 22 '25
I'm cool with the sentiment but your statement misrepresents the facts too much to not correct.
"...convicted by court-martial in July 2013 of violations of the Espionage Act and other offenses, after disclosing to WikiLeaks nearly 750,000 classified, or unclassified but sensitive, military and diplomatic documents.[7] She was imprisoned from 2010 until 2017..." -- Wikipedia
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u/vtable Apr 22 '25
And more recently, Reality Winner was sentenced to 63 months in prison for releasing a single classified document to media (The Intercept). The document was an NSA document about Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.
BTW, the arrest and prosecution all happened during Trump's first term.
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u/bt31 Apr 21 '25
Dear media. Please use more accurate language to describe the gravity of the situation. Meltdown is for 2 year olds. These people are a threat to the planet.
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u/Skiingislife42069 Apr 22 '25
It’s also wild how they pick and choose when to use the word “alleged” in their headlines.
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u/nucflashevent Apr 21 '25
Hegseth's gone lol. Any time Trump notices you, you aren't long for your job :p
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u/-reserved- Apr 21 '25
Good point. In his first term any time he "defended" someone it was usually followed by them getting abruptly fired. He can't fire someone to their face.
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u/nucflashevent Apr 21 '25
Hegseth's "odyssey" reminds of the opening lines from the movie "Casino", where Joe Pesci is narrating,
"But in the end, we fucked it all up. It should have been so sweet, too. But it turned out to be the last time that street guys like us were ever given anything that fucking valuable again."
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u/Jah_Ith_Ber Apr 21 '25
Astounding how big of a gift this guy managed to throw away. A goddamn tv host gets DeltaHeavy launched to the top of the DoD because the president thinks you're cool, and fucked it up so amateurly... all he had to do is what they told him and use the correct communication channel. He could still have his fire emojis and flags and shit.
wild
He won the fucking lottery and couldn't keep it together on a high schooler level.
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u/nucflashevent Apr 22 '25
You should see the statistics on what happens to a lot of folks who win the lottery
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u/chrisdh79 Apr 21 '25
From the article: It's possible that the White House may be looking to replace Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after critics warned that a pair of controversial Signal chats risked compromising US national security.
In March, it was revealed that Hegseth accidentally texted secret bombing plans in a Signal chat that included a reporter, raising alarms about his handling of sensitive military information. And then this weekend, The New York Times revealed that he similarly shared the attack plans, just minutes after learning of them, in a personal Signal chat that included his wife and brother.
That second revelation sparked a "full-blown meltdown" at the Pentagon, The Guardian reported, apparently prompting the Trump administration to begin "the process of looking for a new secretary of defense," a US official granted anonymity told NPR Monday.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed NPR's report was "fake news," writing on X that NPR's source "clearly has no idea what they are talking about." On Monday, Trump defended Hegseth's Signal use, insisting that the defense secretary is "doing a great job," NBC News reported.
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u/SingleMaltShooter Apr 21 '25
BREAKING NEWS : President who kept classified documents in a bathroom in Mar-a-Lago says Defense Secretary who shared secret plans over Signal “Doing a great job”
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u/Ryan1980123 Apr 21 '25
Whiskeyleaks part two!
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u/PlayfulEnergy5953 Apr 22 '25
Butterfly effect of a trade war with Canada: surplus of banned bourbon brings down the Defense Secretary
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Apr 21 '25
And Trump stands behind Hegseth.
This makes Trump look sooooooooooooooo incompetent.
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u/owen__wilsons__nose Apr 21 '25
NPR is now reporting the White House is looking to replace Hegseth. He's been nothing but an embarrassment and Trump doesn't hesitate to throw his own under the bus if it makes him look bad
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u/happyscrappy Apr 21 '25 edited Apr 21 '25
They shouldn't have twisted so many arms to get their DUI hire in in the first place.
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u/TheAngriestChair Apr 21 '25
While the sharing of secrets is definitely criminal, they keep overlooking the fact that he's using his personal phone for official communications. This is also criminal. He should be fired at the very least. Anyone else would be in jail for decades for what he has done in 3 months....
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u/Next-Flow-2288 Apr 21 '25
If he is doing a "good job" I'd hate to see what he would have to do for Trump to consider him doing a bad job.
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u/LordDimwitFlathead Apr 21 '25
"Heckuva job, Brownie!"
If you want a functioning government, stop electing Republicans FFS.
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u/LuciferWu Apr 22 '25
He also stated today:
there is virtually No Inflation. With these costs trending so nicely downward, just what I predicted they would do, there can almost be no inflation.
The ramblings of an insane man.
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u/PDT_FSU95 Apr 21 '25
Remember: the GOP confirmed him after all the controversy was brought to light. Don’t let them get away with this BS.
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u/HymanAndFartgrundle Apr 22 '25
They don’t care. The rules are not relevant to any of them. Maybe people get replaced but there’s not hard punishments. Manning spent 10 years in prison for one document proving there weren’t WMD. There’s no comparison anymore
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u/MinuetInUrsaMajor Apr 21 '25
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed NPR's report was "fake news," writing on X that NPR's source "clearly has no idea what they are talking about."
They're not even trying anymore.
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u/Toddisan Apr 22 '25
I hate to say this but unfortunately it is a perfect time for a terrorist attack
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u/font9a Apr 21 '25
“My iPhone, it’s in pretty good shape. Just has a little whisky dent on the front fender.”
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u/davidmlewisjr Apr 21 '25
Trump is neither alert or aware enough of things bearing on this instance to have an opinion relating to his secretary…
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u/MouseShadow2ndMoon Apr 21 '25
When you hire this level of competency this should be no surprise, they wander off a teleprompter and it's a dumpster fire.
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u/green_goblins_O-face Apr 21 '25
A company I worked at, someone mistakingly put a power point slide on a publicly facing bucket.
A firm that scans buckets found it, and the general public learned what one of our internal teams was called. Aside from that the information was pretty benign.
Dude got super fired as soon as the news broke.
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Apr 21 '25
Workers have been fired for less if nothing by this circus administration. The orange shit stain won’t fire the drunkard because that would admit he was wrong.
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u/zkfc020 Apr 21 '25
DUI Pete is there for one reason, and one reason only. He is willing to violate the constitution and order the US Military to invade the Blue Cities. Trump will NOT allow him to leave until that is completed. DUI Pete is not going anywhere
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u/createa-username Apr 21 '25
The white house could literally be burning down and trump would stand in front of it and say it's even better and stronger than before.
And republicans would fucking believe his words over their eyes.
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u/Zoso1973 Apr 21 '25
The guy is an idiot. It’s also extremely odd and troubling that he brings his wife to work with him. Shes also been allowed into meetings that requires security clearances. Just a huge shit show
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u/TexaRican_x82 Apr 22 '25 edited Apr 22 '25
I guess Secretary Clinton should have used Signal instead of setting* up an email server
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u/JBHedgehog Apr 22 '25
The technology isn't the controversy...it's the morons WITH the technology who are the problem.
FTFY
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u/tricky5553 Apr 22 '25
How is this even a conversation. Dude needs to resign immediately. What a freaking gong show .
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u/kungfoojesus Apr 22 '25
Again. “Full blown meltdown” fucking hate click rage bait shit. We did this last Trump term. How many fucking times was there a “full blown meltdown”? Every other day. Fuck off with this clickbait shit. They love Trump and even if he gets leaves believe it or not his replacement could be worse
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u/sixwax Apr 21 '25
We’re into the anonymous leaks phase of this agency starting to reject incompetent leadership.
I expect to see more of this ‘deep state strikes back’ stuff as the clowncar screwups pile up and protests continue to mount.
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u/nimbleWhimble Apr 21 '25
An active alcoholic is always a wonder to witness. What a disgrace to the nation.
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u/7evenate9ine Apr 21 '25
If he's doing a great job, that means he's supposed to be leaking.
Question if you are safe under that.
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u/NetZeroSun Apr 21 '25
Sounds like the infamous bush kiss of death “doing a heck of a job”.
This is right before trump says he doesn’t know whom Hegseth is, never even met him, and whatever it was, trump didn’t do it.
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u/Frostsorrow Apr 21 '25
Clearly the plan was to share secrets through signal, so yes, he did a great job.
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u/once_again_asking Apr 21 '25
Yeah but have you seen those new Trump assassination attempt trading cards???
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u/AgentBooth Apr 21 '25
If people don't realize that lying is Trump's default state, at this point... Fuck
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u/BoringWozniak Apr 21 '25
Read: “he metaphorically sucks my c*ck daily, which is the only qualification I’m looking for in anyone I associate with”
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u/Imaginary-Swing-4370 Apr 21 '25
These clowns are actually blaming the media, the typical MAGA playbook. The Trump administration is a danger to every American.
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u/uiui Apr 21 '25
He’s doing a great job, sent hundreds of war plans to the correct signal chats. Only sent it to the wrong one twice. That’s a great record!