In response to reports that Pete Hegseth sharing sensitive attack information with his family, Newsmax host says it “has no impact on how Hegseth carries out his job”

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published

The New York Times reported on April 20: 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared detailed information about forthcoming strikes in Yemen on March 15 in a private Signal group chat that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer, according to four people with knowledge of the chat.

Some of those people said that the information Mr. Hegseth shared on the Signal chat included the flight schedules for the F/A-18 Hornets targeting the Houthis in Yemen — essentially the same attack plans that he shared on a separate Signal chat the same day that mistakenly included the editor of The Atlantic.

From the April 22, 2025, edition of Newsmax's Chris Plante: The Right Squad

CHRIS PLANTE (HOST): President Trump has assembled a hell of a cabinet, I've got to say. And no matter the efforts of the left-wing media, corrupt though they may be, to stir up trouble, the president of the United States is confident in his choices like none other than Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The leftist media, trying once again to sow division between Pete Hegseth and President Trump, claiming that the president has lost faith in the Pentagon chief, rehashing a story from weeks ago now that has no impact on how Hegseth carries out his job as secretary of the entire Department of Defense. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, addressing the efforts to undermine Hegseth, especially through leaks to the left-wing media.

...

PLANTE: It's true, of course, that the results do speak for themselves in myriad ways. Just look at military recruitment. That is a major metric when you're secretary of defense. As of last week, the Army had enlisted 51,837 recruits. That is 85% of its target for 2025. Total target of 61,000 for the fiscal year. The Army has until the end of the fiscal year, September 30, to reach the quota. The goal stated as such. At this point in 2024, Joe Biden — you may recall, the Army had reached just 63% of its goal, pulling in 34,512 recruits. 

And the military is also active in securing the southern border. Now with the authority to search and detain illegal aliens coming illegally into our country illegally across the border. And the military now, newly minted land along our southern border in New Mexico, where the military has authority.