Members of former President Donald Trump’s National Security Council (NSC), including National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, reportedly used personal Gmail accounts for official government communications. Documents reviewed by The Washington Post and interviews with officials indicate that discussions involved sensitive military matters, raising concerns over data security.
The use of personal email, which lacks encryption and security measures of government communication systems, has intensified scrutiny over the administration’s cybersecurity protocols. This revelation follows a previous incident in which a journalist was mistakenly included in a Signal group chat discussing military operations in Yemen.
Sensitive Conversations on Unsecured Platforms
A senior aide to Waltz allegedly used Gmail for discussions on military positions and weapons systems with officials from other agencies. Emails show that while the aide relied on a personal account, other officials used government-issued emails for the same correspondence.
Waltz himself reportedly received work-related information on his personal Gmail, including his schedule and other official documents. While not classified, experts warn that such details could be valuable to foreign intelligence agencies. Waltz allegedly copied portions of his schedule into Signal, an encrypted messaging app, to coordinate meetings.
Brian Hughes, an NSC spokesperson, denied that Waltz improperly used personal email. He stated that if work-related emails were sent to Waltz’s Gmail by “legacy contacts,” he ensured they were forwarded to his official government account to comply with federal records laws.
“Waltz didn’t and wouldn’t send classified information on an open account,” Hughes asserted.
When asked about an NSC staffer’s use of Gmail for military-related discussions, Hughes emphasized that NSC personnel are required to use “only secure platforms for classified information.”
Signal Chats and Security Breaches
In addition to email concerns, Waltz has also hosted Signal group chats with Cabinet members on security matters, including discussions on Somalia and Russia’s war in Ukraine. The Wall Street Journal first reported the existence of these chats. While Signal is approved for government use, it is not authorized for classified discussions.
One such Signal group chat included Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic and a vocal critic of Trump. This inclusion angered Trump and other officials, as it potentially exposed sensitive government discussions. Although Trump publicly supported Waltz, reports suggest that he considered removing him from his position. After consulting with Vice President JD Vance and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Trump ultimately decided against firing Waltz, reportedly to avoid giving the “liberal media a scalp.”
According to a senior administration official, the incident has weakened Waltz’s standing, and he was advised to be more deferential to Wiles, who wields considerable influence in the administration.
Cybersecurity Experts Raise Red Flags
Security specialists have expressed concerns that U.S. national security officials are not consistently using secure government systems like the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System (JWICS). Personal email accounts are particularly vulnerable to cyber threats such as hacking and phishing.
Eva Galperin, director of cybersecurity at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, warned that personal email lacks end-to-end encryption, making it susceptible to interception at various points, including on Google’s servers.
Concerns heightened after leaked Signal messages detailed military operations. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s messages in the chat reportedly included intelligence on the timing, sequencing, and weapon systems used in a U.S. strike on Houthi militants in Yemen. Waltz allegedly provided an after-action report in the chat, revealing intelligence sources, including Israeli surveillance capabilities. Israeli officials expressed frustration over the exposure of their methods.
Trump’s Reaction and Internal Fallout
Despite security concerns, Trump appeared more troubled by the inclusion of a journalist in the Signal chat than by the potential exposure of military secrets. Some White House officials reportedly doubt Waltz’s explanations regarding the leak.
Waltz initially took responsibility for creating the Signal group but later claimed that Goldberg’s contact was “sucked into” his phone automatically. This assertion was contradicted by a newly surfaced photo showing the two men together at a Washington event. Goldberg dismissed Waltz’s claim, stating, “This isn’t ‘The Matrix.’ Phone numbers don’t just get sucked into other phones.”
Waltz’s use of personal email is particularly notable given his past criticism of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over her private email server. In June 2023, he condemned the Justice Department for not taking action against Clinton, writing, “What did DOJ do about it? Not a damn thing.”
Political Implications and Administration Response
While Trump administration officials have publicly downplayed the incident, some acknowledge that it was a serious security lapse. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was part of the Signal chat, admitted that “someone made a big mistake.”
Rubio, a former vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is known for his strict adherence to operational security. He stated that his involvement in the chat was minimal, consisting of identifying his chief of staff as a point of contact and later congratulating team members.
Trump dismissed the controversy as a politically motivated attack, stating, “I don’t fire people because of fake news and witch hunts.”
NSC spokesman Hughes reiterated Trump’s support for Waltz, emphasizing that “Mike serves at the pleasure of President Trump, and the President has voiced his support multiple times this week.”
While critics, particularly Democrats, have seized on the incident as evidence of incompetence, Waltz has also faced backlash from within the Republican Party. Some MAGA-aligned Republicans have labeled him a neoconservative, circulating a 2016 video where he condemned Trump as a draft-dodger and called to “Stop Trump now.”
A factor working in Waltz’s favor, according to officials, is that the breach was exposed by a left-leaning media outlet rather than conservative media.
“The one thing saving his job is that Trump doesn’t want to give Jeff Goldberg a scalp,” an administration official noted. “Despite all of Trump’s attacks on the ‘fake news,’ he still reads the papers, and he doesn’t like seeing this stuff.”
The controversy surrounding Waltz’s email use and Signal communications underscores broader cybersecurity concerns within the U.S. government. As scrutiny intensifies, how the administration handles this issue will likely remain a contentious topic in Washington.
