Pete Hegseth and Marco Rubio Stayed on Signal Chats, Records Show, Despite Trump Warning

(Sipa USA via AP)

Newly released records show Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine continued to use Signal group chats configured to automatically delete messages, even after President Donald Trump publicly suggested that officials stop using the encrypted messaging app.

The disclosures came after last year’s high-profile leak, when officials mistakenly included The Atlantic’s editor Jeffery Goldberg in a separate group chat discussing military operations against Houthi rebels.

The documents, released by the State Department last week in response to Freedom of Information Act litigation brought by Democracy Forward, reveal 13 previously unreported Signal group chats involving senior Trump administration officials during the first half of 2025.

The screenshots identified a wider network of Signal use across the administration than had previously been disclosed.

Among the newly released records is a Signal group administered by Caine that included Hegseth and Rubio. The chat, titled “SS/APNSA,SD,CJCS,” was configured to delete messages automatically after eight hours.

Another group including Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was set to erase messages after one week.

The disclosures come despite Trump’s comments in April, when he told reporters: “I think we learned: Maybe don’t use Signal, okay? If you want to know the truth. I would frankly tell these people not to use Signal.”

The newly disclosed chats also included groups labeled “Iran/Ukraine Planning” and “State USAID,” as well as a conversation among Rubio, former Latin America envoy Mauricio Claver-Carone and then-counselor Mike Needham that continued after Trump’s remarks.

The records prompted renewed scrutiny over federal recordkeeping requirements and Democracy Forward President and CEO Skye Perryman urged the National Archives to initiate an enforcement action over what she called “likely violations” of the Federal Records Act.

Last June, a federal judge ordered Rubio to seek recovery of records at risk of deletion and administration officials later told the court they had installed software intended to preserve messages sent through Signal.

The White House called the records “old news,” with spokesperson Anna Kelly telling The Atlantic: “As we have said, Signal is an approved app that is pre-loaded on government phones.”

A spokesperson for Caine told the outlet that the chairman “uses the Signal app for administrative and coordinating matters within the parameters of DoD Instructions concerning online information and records management,” adding that he does not use the platform to share classified information.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!