'Bad' — but not surprising: Expert details Trump’s 'terrible' history with information security

25 March

On Monday afternoon, March 24, the Trump Administration was rocked by a major scandal when The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg revealed that he had been exposed to classified government information involving a military operation against the Houthis in Yemen. Goldberg, in a detailed article, explained that National Security Advisor Michael Waltz had accidently included him in a group chat on the messaging app Signal; in the chat, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance and others discussed top-secret war plans.

Many Democrats are attacking Trump Administration officials for endangering the United States' national security, but Hegseth, President Donald Trump and others are claiming that Goldberg's revelation is no big deal. Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) dismissed the security compromise as "inside baseball."

In an article published by the conservative website The Bulwark on March 25, journalist Nicholas Grossman stresses that while the scandal is appalling, it isn't surprising in light of Trump's history.

"It's stupid, it's bad for the country, but Americans shouldn't be surprised," Grossman argues. "Trump was historically terrible for information security in his first term and after, and voters elected him again in 2024 anyway. Recall that, less than a month after first taking office in 2017, Trump conducted an emergency meeting on a surprise North Korea ballistic missile launch with Japan's prime minister at Mar-a-Lago, in view of resort guests with smartphones."

Grossman adds, "The president's Florida beach club/home is easily accessible, and multiple unauthorized individuals have made it past security, including a suspected Chinese spy carrying a laptop, external drives, and four phones."

The journalist notes that if the "stunning new security lapse revealed" by Goldberg involved a Democratic president, Republicans wouldn't be so forgiving.

"U.S. intelligence partners see failures like this and conclude America can't be trusted," Grossman warns. "They have to operate under the assumption that any sensitive information given to the United States could be accidentally leaked by top officials. Not to mention the possibility that President Trump or longtime Putin sympathizer Tulsi Gabbard, the new director of national intelligence, will give it away to adversaries."

Grossman adds, "The loss of trust damages counterterrorism, insight into foreign governments and other national security goals. If these idiots are accidentally roping in the editor of the Atlantic on secret war deliberations, what are the chances they're making other serious information-security mistakes, including ones that create openings for foreign intelligence agencies? Probably pretty high."

Nicholas Grossman's full article for The Bulwark is available at this link.

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