Trump security team’s extensive Signal use for sensitive communications uncovered

Sensitive information regarding the U.S.'s work on issues concerning Ukraine, China, Gaza, Africa, Europe, and Middle East policies were claimed to have been shared by National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and his team across at least 20 different group chats in the Signal messaging app, reports Politico.

While the presence of classified data on the Signal chats was not confirmed by individuals close to the matter who reported the group chats, National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes firmly denied the agency's use of the publicly available messaging platform for such information. "[Signal] is one of the approved methods of communicating but is not the primary or even secondary, it is one of a host of approved methods for unclassified material with the understanding that a user must preserve the record," said Hughes. Such a development comes after Waltz was reported by The Wall Street Journal to have used Signal to coordinate NSC communications just after The Atlantic revealed the U.S.'s military strike plans being tackled on the same messaging platform. Another report from The Washington Post revealed that Waltz and his team also sent government communications through their personal Gmail accounts.