A recent report has raised concerns about the security of U.S. government communications after it was revealed that top Trump administration officials used the messaging app Signal to discuss an imminent military operation while a senior envoy was in Russia.
Signal is a private messaging application known for its end-to-end encryption, which secures messages so only the sender and recipient can read them. It is widely used by journalists, activists, and government officials for its strong privacy protections. However, security experts have raised concerns about its use for classified government discussions, especially in environments vulnerable to foreign surveillance. According to CBS News, “Russia has repeatedly tried to compromise Signal,” highlighting potential security risks for U.S. officials using the platform.
President Trump’s Ukraine and Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, was in Moscow meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin when he was included in a Signal group chat with more than a dozen top administration officials, according to CBS News. The chat, titled “Houthi PC small group,” was used to discuss a military operation against the Houthis in Yemen, according to The Atlantic.
Notably, The Atlantic’s editor, Jeffrey Goldberg, was also inadvertently added to the chat, as first reported by The Atlantic. It remains unclear how Goldberg was included in the classified conversation.
Witkoff arrived in Moscow on March 13, “according to data from the flight tracking website FlightRadar24,” CBS News reported. Russian state media broadcast video of his motorcade leaving Vnukovo International Airport. About 12 hours later, he was added to the group chat. The National Security Council confirmed to CBS News that “the group chat ‘appears to be authentic.'”
Security experts have expressed concerns about the use of Signal for sensitive discussions, especially given that “Russia has repeatedly tried to compromise Signal,” CBS News reported. Neil Ashdown, a cybersecurity consultant, told CBS News that “considering whether the platform is secure, ‘is to miss the crux of the problem, which is to question whether the use of that application in that environment to convey that level of information was in line with policies and processes.'”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated on X that no “war plans” were discussed and that the White House Counsel’s Office had “provided guidance on a number of different platforms for President Trump’s top officials to communicate as safely and efficiently as possible.”
CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, both members of the group chat, appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday. Ratcliffe acknowledged that he was part of the chat. According to The Atlantic, during the discussion, Ratcliffe named an active CIA intelligence officer at 5:24 p.m. eastern time. Witkoff’s flight from Moscow did not leave until 2 a.m. local time, and Russian political analyst Sergei Markov wrote in a Telegram post that Witkoff and Putin were meeting “until 1:30 a.m.”
The White House has not confirmed whether Witkoff had his device with him at the Kremlin. CBS News also noted that “the Google Threat Intelligence Group warned just last month of ‘increasing efforts from several Russia state-aligned threat actors to compromise Signal Messenger accounts used by individuals of interest to Russia’s intelligence services.'”
Ukraine’s cyber defense agency recently issued a bulletin warning of cyberattacks on Signal accounts belonging to military personnel. “Some of the messages were sent from existing contacts, increasing the likelihood of the phishing links being opened,” according to Ukraine’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-UA).
Jake Moore, a cybersecurity advisor at ESET, told CBS News that some spyware, such as Pegasus, can be installed remotely without the user’s knowledge, allowing access to sensitive information. He noted that “while the risk is minimal to members of the public, … the sensitivity of [government] conversations” necessitates stronger security measures.
The White House has not provided further details on the matter, and both the Kremlin and the U.S. government have not confirmed the timing of Witkoff’s meeting with Putin. The incident has sparked bipartisan concerns regarding the handling of sensitive government communications.
Sources: CBS News, The Atlantic
