Investigators looking at who sent Hegseth’s Signal texts, whether they were told to delete them, sources say
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(WASHINGTON) — Pentagon investigators are looking into whether Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth personally wrote the text messages detailing the military’s plans to strike Houthi targets in Yemen or whether other staffers typed out those details, according to two people familiar with the ongoing probe.
The Defense Department’s Office of Inspector General has spent several weeks interviewing Hegseth’s current and former staff members to figure out how United States strike details taken from a classified system wound up in a commercial messaging app known as Signal.
“Because this is one of the DOD IG’s ongoing projects, in accordance with our policy we do not provide the scope or details to protect the integrity of the process and avoid compromising the evaluation,” DOD IG spokesperson Mollie Halperin told ABC News.
The details were relayed in two chat groups that included Hegseth – one with Vice President JD Vance and other high-ranking officials, and a second one that included Hegseth’s wife, who is not employed by the government.
It remains unclear how soon the findings will be released. Hegseth is scheduled to testify for the first time as defense secretary on Tuesday, where Democratic lawmakers are expected to question his handling of classified and sensitive information.
The sharing of the details reportedly occurred around the same time in mid-March when key members of President Donald Trump’s National Security Council, including Hegseth, inadvertently shared details about the March 15 missile strike in Yemen with the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic.
Much of the same content was shared in the second encrypted chat with family members and others — a chat group that Hegseth had created on his personal phone during his confirmation process that included his wife, Jennifer Hegseth, the two officials told ABC News.
In addition to looking at whether the information was classified and who wrote it, investigators are also asking whether any staff members were asked by Hegseth or others to delete messages, according to one person familiar with the IG probe.
The government is required under law to retain federal communications as official records.
(NEW JERSEY) — New Jersey is set to hold its gubernatorial elections this year, with hotly contested primaries set for next month — and many experts are saying the high-stakes race could be a harbinger for the mood of the country ahead of 2026’s critical midterm elections.
“This is going to be the first real test for the potential Democratic backlash against the Trump administration. We’ve seen a little bit from special elections that Democratic voters are motivated to turn out. Does that continue going forward in the fall in New Jersey?” Daniel Bowen, a political science professor at The College of New Jersey, told ABC News.
Brigid Callahan Harrison, the chair of the Political Science and Law Department at Montclair State University, told ABC News that the race might not only be a “bellwether” for how voters feel about President Donald Trump and the upcoming midterms, but that it could indicate both how partisan allegiances are shifting in New Jersey and the strength of Trump’s endorsement of Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli.
Harrison points to Kamala Harris’ small margin of victory in New Jersey, too. Harris won New Jersey by around 6 percentage points in 2024; then-Vice President Joe Biden won the state by about 16 percentage points in 2020.
At stake in the race are also issues in New Jersey such as immigration enforcement and sanctuary cities, and the cost of housing and general affordability — issues that have divided and animated Americans around the country and that are set to take center stage in the midterms as well.
Democrats contend with a crowded field
The Democratic primary features six figures hoping to succeed incumbent and term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy and to keep the governorship blue.
Polling shows that U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, who represents the state’s 11th Congressional District, is leading the pack. Sherrill’s experience as a former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot and network of political supporters from a previous run for Congress work in her favor, Harrison said.
Another Democratic candidate, Josh Gottheimer, has represented New Jersey’s 5th Congressional District since 2017. The former political operative is widely seen as a moderate. Similar to other candidates, Gottheimer is positioning himself as ready to take on Trump. He has also framed himself as being the best one to tackle affordability in the state.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was an educator in Newark Public Schools and a member of the city council before being elected mayor for the first time in 2014. He was arrested earlier this month while joining members of Congress at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Newark. Trespassing charges against Baraka have since been dismissed.
Steven Fulop was first elected mayor of Jersey City in 2013. The ex-Goldman Sachs investment banker and former Marine has overseen population growth, increased development and municipal reforms.
Steve Sweeney, a former ironworker who served as New Jersey’s state Senate president for more than a decade, spent two decades as a lawmaker in that chamber before losing to a Republican in 2021. He has touted his strong support from unions and experience as a legislator.
Sean Spiller, the president of the New Jersey Education Association — the state’s largest teacher’s union — has pointed to his experience as the former mayor of the city of Montclair as evidence that he is able to take on issues such as affordable housing and investing in childcare.
As the June 10 primary gets closer, experts say they’re all facing some of the same headwinds. After New Jersey eliminated its old primary ballot design, which used to allow most county parties to give preferential placement to their endorsed candidates, candidates now must focus more on their own get-out-the-vote operations, Harrison said.
“Nobody’s run in a race like this,” she said.
Republicans play the Trump card — as he endorses a returning challenger
Republicans are hoping to flip New Jersey’s governorship red — and point to the closer-than-expected margin between Trump and Harris in 2024 as evidence that it’s in reach.
A recent New Jersey Republican Party fundraising email encouraged voters to “finish the job” and “flip New Jersey red, for good.”
Experts said the presidential results might not necessarily indicate how competitive the gubernatorial race will be. Bowen said that New Jersey’s off-cycle gubernatorial elections often show voters largely voting against the incumbent party in power in the White House, although he added that Republicans also see the race as intertwined with Democratic incumbent Murphy finishing up his time in office.
Still, most of the Republican candidates have been eager to align themselves with Trump.
Trump has endorsed the Republican front-runner Ciattarelli in the race that the president wrote is being “closely watched by the entire World.”
Ciattarelli has been involved in local politics for decades, serving various roles including councilman and state assemblyman. He has had his sights on governor since 2017, where he ran for the first time but lost the primary. Ciattarelli succeeded in clinching the Republican nomination in 2021, but ultimately lost to Murphy.
Ciattarelli, who says his top priority is making the state more affordable, has shifted his stance on Trump over the years. In 2015, he issued a statement calling Trump “out of step with American values” and “not fit” to be president. But he now supports the president, and endorsed Trump in the 2024 election.
Trump, recently wrote on his social media platform that Ciattarelli, “after getting to know and understand MAGA, has gone ALL IN, and is now 100% (PLUS!)”
After the endorsement, Ciattarelli told Fox News that he will support the president’s agenda. He has acknowledged his previous comments about Trump, too, but compared himself to Vice President JD Vance — who at one point also did not support the president but is now vice president under Trump.
Ashley Koning, the director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University, told ABC News that Trump’s endorsement could help encourage undecided Republican voters to favor Ciattarelli. She said the center’s polling showed that with Republican voters who were split, about half said an endorsement from Trump would make them more likely to vote for that candidate.
Conservative talk show host Bill Spadea previously ran unsuccessful campaigns for the U.S. House and the state assembly, and has said he isn’t afraid to call out both parties. He has expressed a desire to end taxpayer subsidies for Planned Parenthood and replicate the Department of Government Efficiency in New Jersey, in addition to promising to combat illegal immigration and increase affordability. Still, he said he has disagreed with Trump on “multiple occasions.”
Jon Bramnick, a former state senator, appears to be less supportive of Trump. Last April, he made it clear that he would not vote for Trump in the 2024 presidential race, though he also said he probably wouldn’t vote for the Democratic candidate either.
Still, some of Bramnick’s positions reflect stances similar to Trump’s. In addition to branding himself as the “toughest candidate on immigration,” Bramnick also seeks to end sanctuary state policies in New Jersey, and introduced the “New Jersey Laken Riley Act,” which intends to align the state’s law with Trump’s legislation.
Mario Kranjac, the former mayor of the town of Englewood Cliffs, is running a pro-Trump campaign, branding himself as a “political outsider.” Justin Barbera, a contractor, is also running a pro-Trump campaign, telling the New Jersey Monitor he is guided by his military and Christian background.
Even with Ciatterelli standing out as the front-runner, Bowen said that nothing is certain until the primary wraps.
“It certainly looks like the race is Ciatterelli’s to lose at this point — although, of course, in a primary, anything can happen,” Bowen said.
White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Sunday that he expects President Donald Trump to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week on tariffs.
“President Trump, we expect, is going to have a wonderful conversation about the trade negotiations this week with President Xi. That’s our expectation,” Hassett told anchor George Stephanopoulos on ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday.
Currently, China has a 30% tariff level for goods coming into the U.S., which is reduced from the original 145% Trump levied. A 90-day reprieve from the 145% tariffs was given with the intent that the two countries would negotiate a wider trade deal.
Hassett said he was unsure of the exact date the two leaders would plan to speak to each other.
“I’m not sure, George, because you never know in international relations, but my expectation is that both sides have expressed a willingness to talk. And I’d like to also add that people are talking every day, so [U.S. Trade Representative] Jamieson Greer, his team and President Xi’s team in China, they’re talking every day trying to move the ball forward on this matter.”
Trump’s tariffs have faced a number of court challenges. An appeals court reinstated Trump’s tariffs this week after a Wednesday court order blocked them. The appeals court decision stands for the time being.
The block on the tariffs came after the Court of International Trade decided that the administration’s evocation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not give the president the right to set “unlimited” tariffs. The Trump administration argued that the court order may harm their progress in negotiations.
Here are more highlights from Hassett’s interview:
Hassett on the legal challenges to tariffs
Stephanopoulos: Are you confident the Supreme Court is going to uphold these tariffs? What happens if they don’t?
Hassett: Right. Well, one of the things we’ve been doing all the way back until 2017, when I used to speak with you on the show last time, George, is that we’ve studied every possible way that President Trump’s tariff agenda could be pursued. And Jamieson Greer, the best trade lawyer in the business, came down and said the IEPA pursuit that we’re pursuing is the fastest, and it’s the way that’s the most legally sound.
And so we’re very thrilled. We are very confident that the judges will uphold this law. And so I think that’s Plan A. And we’re very, very confident that Plan A is all we’re ever going to need. But if, for some reason, some judge were to say that it’s not a national emergency when more Americans die from fentanyl than have ever died in all American wars combined, that’s not an emergency that the president has authority over, if that ludicrous statement is made by a judge somewhere, then we’ll have other alternatives that we can pursue as well to make sure that we make America trade fair again.
On possible deals this week
Stephanopoulos: Where are we exactly? When will we see an actual agreement? Will we see any this week?
Hassett: I expected that we were going to probably see one perhaps as early as last week. And I think that one of the things that’s happened is that the trade team has been focused 100 percent like a laser beam on the China matter, to make sure that there are no supply disruptions because these licenses are coming a little slower than we would like. And so, we’ve been focused like a laser beam on that last week, and the presidents, we expect, will discuss the matter this week. Once that thing’s resolved, then we’re going to take deals into the Oval that Jamieson Greer and Howard Lutnick have negotiated.
Hassett on Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’
Stephanopoulos: Facing numerous challenges to the bill in the Senate right now from both the right and the left, are you confident that the president’s deadline is going to be met?
Hassett: Deadlines are deadlines, right? So, the one thing I could say is that we’re 100 percent confident that this bill is going to pass because in the end, the senators who are worried about the bill understand that you’re going to cast the economy into recession and vote for the biggest tax hike in history if you vote against the bill.
(WASHINGTON) — In a phone interview Friday morning, hours after his blistering exchange with Elon Musk, President Donald Trump sounded remarkably unconcerned about their feud, as if it weren’t even the most interesting thing that happened Thursday.
Speaking on a phone call Friday morning shortly before 7 a.m., ABC News asked him about reports he had a call scheduled with Musk for later in the day.
“You mean the man who has lost his mind?” he asked, saying he was “not particularly” interested in talking to him right now.
He said Musk wants to talk to him, but he’s not ready to talk to Musk.
Trump then talked for a couple of minutes about other things — referring to inflation (down), foreign investment (up) and his plans for a visit to China (huge).
People close to Trump have described him as more sad than angry at Musk. One adviser who was with Trump on Thursday night said he seemed “bummed” about the breakup. And that’s the way he sounded on Friday morning.
Trump is considering either giving away or selling the red Tesla he purchased to support Musk, a senior administration official told ABC News’ Rachel Scott Friday morning. The Tesla was parked just on West Executive Avenue on Thursday. Trump made a show of checking out Tesla models at the White House in March as Musk’s company took a hit as he arrived in Washington.
Speaking to Al Arabiya English from the Delhi Airport lounge, Musk’s father, Errol Musk, said he urged his tech billionaire son to end the feud.
“I haven’t spoken to him, but I did send him a message, you know, telling him to make sure this fizzles out,” he said before saying who he thinks will come out of this battle victorious. “Trump, of course, will prevail, because he is has been voted in by the majority of the people in America.”
The elder Musk blamed “a great deal of stress” for his son’s actions on Thursday.
The war of words on Thursday, stemming from Musk’s criticism of Trump’s signature tax and immigration bill, had Musk suggesting Trump would have lost the 2024 election without him, backing calls for Trump’s impeachment and even claiming Trump was “in” the Epstein files regarding the investigation into the accused sex trafficker.
“That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!” Musk posted.
Trump, in turn, had said Musk had gone “CRAZY” and suggested terminating Musk’s government contracts and subsidies.
Vice President JD Vance expressed his support for Trump amid the public dispute in a brief post to X — albeit hours after the back-and-forth between Trump and Musk began. The post didn’t directly weigh in on Musk’s attacks or criticize the Tesla billionaire, with whom Vance has his own history that predates his time as Trump’s running mate and vice president.
“President Trump has done more than anyone in my lifetime to earn the trust of the movement he leads. I am proud to stand beside him,” Vance wrote on social media.
Vance still hadn’t directly responded to Musk’s accusations against Trump when he posted again on Friday morning.
“There are many lies the corporate media tells about President Trump. One of the most glaring is that he’s impulsive or short-tempered. Anyone who has seen him operate under pressure knows that’s ridiculous,” Vance wrote, focusing his fury on the media.
The White House called the public feud between Trump and Elon Musk “an unfortunate episode from Elon, who doesn’t like the One Big Beautiful Bill because it doesn’t include his policies.”
“The President is focused on passing this historic piece of legislation and making our country great again,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
Just hours after accusing Trump, without evidence, of appearing in the Epstein files, Musk showed some signs of trying to soften his tone — even appearing to agree with a post on X calling for the two to “make peace.”
The first sign Musk was starting to walk things back came thanks to an account with just over 141 followers on X who suggested to “cool off” and “take a step back.”
The post from the seemingly random user led Musk to reverse his threat to decommission the spacecraft used to transport astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station, a threat Musk had made just hours earlier.
“Good advice,” Musk responded to the user. “Ok, we won’t decommission Dragon.”
ABC News’ Will Steakin and Lalee Ibssa contributed to this report.
