Rules, Not Rhetoric: Holding Our Leaders to the Standard They Set

I am writing to express my outrage over the now-confirmed existence of a Signal group chat used by top Trump administration officials—including your confirmed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth—to discuss classified military operations on an unsecured, unauthorized platform. Those involved reportedly include: • Vice President JD Vance • Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth • National Security Adviser Mike Waltz • Secretary of State Marco Rubio • National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard • Homeland Security Adviser Stephen Miller • White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles According to National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes, the chat is authentic, and included an “inadvertent number”—which turned out to be a journalist. His attempt to spin this as a sign of “deep and thoughtful policy coordination” is laughable. What it really demonstrates is an administration so careless it can’t even coordinate classified operations without exposing U.S. war plans to civilians. Marine veteran and Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) put it plainly: “There is no world in which this information should have been shared in non-secure channels. Hegseth is in so far over his head that he is a danger to this country and our men and women in uniform.” And while all of this unfolds, President Trump is posting endless photos of himself on Truth Social to promote a “better portrait,” consumed by vanity and optics, while presiding over inhumane deportations of Venezuelan migrants—including children as young as five—under a proclamation he now claims he didn’t even sign. “I don’t know when it was signed, because I didn’t sign it,” Trump said—when asked about a deportation order carried out in the dark of night, under judicial scrutiny. So I ask you, plainly: Do you still support these officials? Do you still support this president? Will you continue confirming people like Pete Hegseth—who would have “jailed” Hillary Clinton for mishandling information, but now shrugs off leaking war plans over group chat? As Hegseth said himself in 2016: “There’s no excuse for mishandling classified information—none.” And as our president once said: “You’re fired.” It’s time to say it to your own team. The world is watching. If you choose to remain silent and support the gaslighting of Americans, the responsibility for this breakdown falls on your shoulders, too.