The Trump administration was plunged into crisis after Signal chat messages discussing war plans were accidentally shared with a journalist – and now Putin’s propagandists have weighed in
Russian State TV makes comment on Signalgate
Vladimir Putin’s propaganda mouthpieces mocked Donald Trump‘s team over the Signal chat leak and revealed they “want to get in” another chat that America‘s top officials may have.
Russian state TV hosts hammered the Trump administration after US officials inadvertently added The Atlantic magazine journalist Jeffrey Goldberg to a group chat where members including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth shared information about military strikes against Houthi rebels. Beside mentioning the timings of military strikes, the Signal group chat drew ridicule from Russian TV hosts – who share their opinions with Putin’s approval. In particular, they noted the “insane” use of emojis.
“Here is a totally insane emoji,” Russia 1 TV host Olga Skabeyeva said. “A striking fist, a flag with stars and stripes, and a flame. Vice President JD Vance described the operation of conducting the airstrikes as ‘excellent’.”
Malek Dudakov, billed as an American expert, then said: “I am not surprised that American officials in this administration are using these private platforms. This isn’t a government channel, not an official channel… I think those working in the Trump administration don’t trust official channels. They think that leaks could originate from there.”
The hosts then agreed that National Security adviser Mike Waltz, who is accused of adding Mr Goldberg to the chat, faces a great risk of being fired. But they also noted how the team appeared preoccupied with the Middle East and had relegated the ongoing war in Ukraine to an after thought.
“We want to get into the chat about Ukraine,” Skabeyeva interjected. Dudakov continued: “Most importantly, nothing was said about Ukraine there. This was a chat about the Houthis.
“He is mainly concerned with the situation in the Middle East. That’s why they’re rushing with the Ukraine issue. We should certainly take advantage of that.”
Members of the group chat have faced a grilling from Democrat members of Congress, although they continue to have the backing of Mr Trump. It later emerged that US spies issued a warning weeks ago about Signal messages being at risk for leaks.
The National Security Agency said in a February 25 document headlined “Signal Vulnerability” that officials needed to be cautious when using it – especially since Russian operatives could get into it and spy on conversations.
One western intelligence previously told The Mirror: “This is basic, schooldays stuff that all intelligence or military people should know. “But it’s almost as if whoever wrote the warning in the NSA predicted Trump’s people would make such a basic, dumb mistake that has made a mockery of US intelligence and security.”
This comes as news emerged that many of Mr Trump’s top officials already embroiled in the Signal chat scandal have reportedly had private details, including passwords and phone numbers, leaked.