(WASHINGTON) — Members of the Trump administration coordinated highly sensitive Yemen war plans on an unsecure group chat, which accidentally included Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, he wrote in a report for the publication on Monday.
White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes shared with ABC News the statement he provided The Atlantic confirming the veracity of a Signal group chat, which Goldberg said included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
“At this time, the message thread that was reported appears to be authentic, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain. The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials. The ongoing success of the Houthi operation demonstrates that there were no threats to our servicemembers or our national security,” Hughes said in the statement.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Monday named Alina Habba, his personal attorney-turned-White House counselor, to serve as the next interim U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey.
“Alina will lead with the same diligence and conviction that has defined her career, and she will fight tirelessly to secure a Legal System that is both ‘Fair and Just’ for the wonderful people of New Jersey,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Habba told reporters outside the West Wing after the announcement that she’s going to do a “bang-up job” tackling corruption.
“As you know, I’ve stood by President Trump, his family, the [Trump] organization, and many other clients in that state where I’ve been born and raised, and I’m raising my babies now, but there is corruption, there is injustice, and there is a heavy amount of crime right in [Sen.] Cory Booker’s backyard and right under Governor [Phil] Murphy, and that will stop,” Habba said without making any specific allegations of corruption.
Asked who she will go after, she said, “We’ll see when I get in there.”
Pressed on whether she would go after politicians, she shot back that the media would “love that narrative.” When it was pointed out that she had mentioned politicians in her remarks, she said, “I didn’t,” but when reminded that she had mentioned Booker and Murphy, she admitted it.
“Correct, because I think Cory Booker and Governor Murphy have failed the state of New Jersey. If you look at what happened in crime, what’s going on in Newark, what’s going on in Camden, this has been a neglected state,” she said. “It is one of the most populated states for its size, and it needs to stop. We’re going to do a bang-up job. I cannot wait. It’s a great honor.”
Habba did not answer repeated questions on why Trump appointed her to the role on an interim basis rather than permanently, and she would not say if she had political ambitions in New Jersey.
“I look forward to working with [Attorney General] Pam Bondi, with the Department of Justice, and making sure that we further the president’s agenda of putting America first, cleaning up mess and going after the people that we should be going after, not the people that are falsely accused,” she added. “That will stop in the great state of New Jersey, starting now.”
Earlier Monday Habba posted on X, “I am honored to serve my home state of New Jersey as Interim U.S. Attorney and I am grateful to President Trump for entrusting me with this tremendous responsibility. Just like I did during my time as President Trump’s personal attorney, I will continue to fight for truth and justice. We will end the weaponization of justice, once and for all.”
Trump said Habba would replace the current interim U.S. attorney, John Giordano, who he will nominate to be the ambassador to Namibia.
Habba rose to fame as a member of Trump’s circle after several years in private practice in New Jersey.
After working as a merchandiser at fashion company Marc Jacobs for two years, Habba attended Widener University Commonwealth Law School in Pennsylvania, graduating in 2011. She served a yearlong clerkship with then-New Jersey Superior Court Judge Eugene Codey Jr. then worked in private practice for eight years at two separate firms before starting her own practice in 2020, focusing on civil and commercial litigation.
After reportedly becoming acquainted with Trump through membership in his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club, Habba’s big break with the former president came when she represented him in a $100 million lawsuit against the New York Times and his estranged niece, Mary L. Trump.
The New York Times lawsuit was ultimately dismissed, and Habba’s other cases for Trump have resulted in a mixed record. She received praise from Trump after Summer Zervos, a former “Apprentice” contestant who accused the former president of sexual assault, dropped her defamation case against Trump.
But when Habba filed a lawsuit claiming that Hillary Clinton and others conspired to damage Trump’s reputation, the judge overseeing the case dismissed the suit, accused Trump of “using the courts to seek revenge on political adversaries,” and fined Trump and Habba nearly $1 million.
Habba became linked to Trump by serving as his legal spokesperson on the heels of his four criminal indictments, and appearing by his side every day he has attended his civil fraud trial in New York. Along the way, her firm has been paid $3.6 million from Trump’s political action committees, according to records reviewed by ABC News.
She has cited her experiences with the former president to not only defend his conduct but also his character. Appearing on Fox News after Trump was indicted for the unlawful retention of classified documents in Florida, she said of Trump, “He’s the most ethical American I know.”
In announcing her appointment as counselor to the president in December, Trump said “Alina has been a tireless advocate for Justice, a fierce Defender of the Rule of Law, and an invaluable Advisor to my Campaign and Transition Team. She has been unwavering in her loyalty, and unmatched in her resolve – standing with me through numerous ‘trials,’ battles, and countless days in Court.”
-ABC News’ Peter Charalambous contributed to this report
(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court for an emergency stay of a district court judge’s order that 16,000 terminated federal probationary employees across six agencies and departments be immediately reinstated.
The request is the latest challenge to a nationwide preliminary injunction issued by a federal district court judge in response to Trump’s executive actions reshaping the government.
Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris argues in the filing that the labor unions and nonprofit groups that challenged the mass firings lack standing, saying they have “hijacked the employment relationship between the federal government and its workforce.”
She claims the judge’s order also violates separation of powers.
“This Court should not allow a single district court to erase Congress’s handiwork and seize control over reviewing federal personnel decisions — much less do so by vastly exceeding the limits on the scope of its equitable authority and ordering reinstatements en masse,” Harris wrote.
Harris said the executive Office of Special Counsel and the Merit Systems Protection Board are the proper venues for plaintiffs challenging their terminations.
The Supreme Court is already weighing the administration’s request for emergency relief in three cases over Trump’s executive order ending Birthright Citizenship.
Disputes over the Alien Enemies Act and over the dissolution of U.S. Agency for International Development and freezing of aid payouts are also likely bound for the high court in the coming weeks and months.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Monday named Alina Habba, his personal attorney-turned-White House counselor, to serve as the next interim U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey.
“Alina will lead with the same diligence and conviction that has defined her career, and she will fight tirelessly to secure a Legal System that is both ‘Fair and Just’ for the wonderful people of New Jersey,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Habba vowed to “end the weaponization of justice, once and for all” in her new position.
“I am honored to serve my home state of New Jersey as Interim U.S. Attorney and I am grateful to President Trump for entrusting me with this tremendous responsibility,” she posted on X. “Just like I did during my time as President Trump’s personal attorney, I will continue to fight for truth and justice. We will end the weaponization of justice, once and for all.”
Trump said Habba would replace the current interim U.S. attorney, John Giordano, who he will nominate to be the ambassador to Namibia.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — Second lady Usha Vance will be part of a delegation traveling to Greenland this week, after President Donald Trump’s repeated statements that the U.S. should own and control the semiautonomous Danish territory.
Vance’s office announced the trip on Sunday, describing it as one dedicated to learning about Greenlandic culture with stops at historical sties and its national dogsled race.
But White House national security adviser Mike Waltz and Secretary of Energy Chris Wright will be joining her, the National Security Council confirmed to ABC News.
“The U.S. has a vested security interest in the Arctic region and it should not be a surprise the National Security Advisor and Secretary of Energy are visiting a U.S. Space Base to get first-hand briefings from our service members on the ground,” National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes said in a statement.
Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede, in a statement to Greenland’s Sermitsiaq newspaper, called the upcoming visit part of a “very aggressive American pressure against the Greenlandic community” and called for the international community to step in to rebuke it.
Trump reintroduced his first-term suggestion for U.S. ownership of Greenland, the world’s largest island and a semiautonomous territory within Denmark, during the presidential transition. It again prompted Greenland officials to emphasize the island territory is not for sale.
His son, Donald Trump Jr., visited Greenland in early January, weeks before the inauguration. Trump Jr. said it was a personal visit and that he was not meeting with officials, though the president still celebrated it and alluded to a “deal” that he said “must happen.”
At one point, he notably declined to rule out military force to acquire Greenland.
Trump officials have pointed to Greenland as a key interest for national security as China and Russia ramp up activity in the Arctic. Greenland is also rich in valuable minerals, including rare earth minerals — the accession of which has become part of Trump’s foreign policy agenda.
In his joint address to Congress earlier this month, Trump said his administration needed it for “international world security.”
“And I think we’re going to get it. One way or the other, we’re going to get it,” Trump said.
Trump’s interest in Greenland comes as he’s pushed similar land grabs of Canada and the Panama Canal. Amid a trade war with Canada, Trump has called for America’s northern ally to become the 51st state, though his nominee to be the U.S. ambassador to Canada has noted that it’s a sovereign state.
Ahead of her visit to Greenland on Thursday, second lady Vance released a video saying she was going to “celebrate the long history of mutual respect and cooperation between our nations and to express hope that our relationship will only grow stronger in the coming years.”
The National Security Council said Waltz and Wright “also look forward to experiencing Greenland’s famous hospitality and are confident that this visit presents an opportunity to build on partnerships that respects Greenland’s self-determination and advances economic cooperation.
“This is a visit to learn about Greenland, its culture, history, and people and to attend a dogsled race the United States is proud to sponsor, plain and simple,” the National Security Council said in its statement.
But Greenland’s prime minister, in a Facebook post, said Vance’s trip “cannot be seen only as a private visit.”
Egede added, “It should also be said in a bold way that our integrity and democracy must be respected, without any external disturbance.”
ABC News’ Hannah Demissie and Fritz Farrow contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Second lady Usha Vance will be part of a delegation traveling to Greenland this week, after President Donald Trump’s repeated statements that the U.S. should own and control the semiautonomous Danish territory.
Vance’s office announced the trip on Sunday, describing it as one dedicated to learning about Greenlandic culture with stops at historical sties and its national dogsled race.
But White House national security adviser Mike Waltz and Secretary of Energy Chris Wright will be joining her, the National Security Council confirmed to ABC News.
“The U.S. has a vested security interest in the Arctic region and it should not be a surprise the National Security Advisor and Secretary of Energy are visiting a U.S. Space Base to get first-hand briefings from our service members on the ground,” National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes said in a statement.
Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede, in a statement to Greenland’s Sermitsiaq newspaper, called the upcoming visit part of a “very aggressive American pressure against the Greenlandic community” and called for the international community to step in to rebuke it.
Trump reintroduced his first-term suggestion for U.S. ownership of Greenland, the world’s largest island and a semiautonomous territory within Denmark, during the presidential transition. It again prompted Greenland officials to emphasize the island territory is not for sale.
His son, Donald Trump Jr., visited Greenland in early January, weeks before the inauguration. Trump Jr. said it was a personal visit and that he was not meeting with officials, though the president still celebrated it and alluded to a “deal” that he said “must happen.”
At one point, he notably declined to rule out military force to acquire Greenland.
Trump officials have pointed to Greenland as a key interest for national security as China and Russia ramp up activity in the Arctic. Greenland is also rich in valuable minerals, including rare earth minerals — the accession of which has become part of Trump’s foreign policy agenda.
In his joint address to Congress earlier this month, Trump said his administration needed it for “international world security.”
“And I think we’re going to get it. One way or the other, we’re going to get it,” Trump said.
Trump’s interest in Greenland comes as he’s pushed similar land grabs of Canada and the Panama Canal. Amid a trade war with Canada, Trump has called for America’s northern ally to become the 51st state, though his nominee to be the U.S. ambassador to Canada has noted that it’s a sovereign state.
Ahead of her visit to Greenland on Thursday, second lady Vance released a video saying she was going to “celebrate the long history of mutual respect and cooperation between our nations and to express hope that our relationship will only grow stronger in the coming years.”
The National Security Council said Waltz and Wright “also look forward to experiencing Greenland’s famous hospitality and are confident that this visit presents an opportunity to build on partnerships that respects Greenland’s self-determination and advances economic cooperation.
“This is a visit to learn about Greenland, its culture, history, and people and to attend a dogsled race the United States is proud to sponsor, plain and simple,” the National Security Council said in its statement.
But Greenland’s prime minister, in a Facebook post, said Vance’s trip “cannot be seen only as a private visit.”
Egede added, “It should also be said in a bold way that our integrity and democracy must be respected, without any external disturbance.”
ABC News’ Hannah Demissie and Fritz Farrow contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — The United States Supreme Court on Monday will hear arguments in a Louisiana case involving politics, race and voting maps with potential implications for the 2026 midterm elections.
The justices are considering a dispute over how Louisiana’s congressional districts were drawn after the 2020 census.
Louisiana has six congressional districts — four represented by Republicans and two by Democrats. The Democratic districts are majority black residents.
A group of non-black citizens is challenging those Democratic districts, saying the state relied too much on race as a factor in how the lines were drawn. The group is requesting that the state only have one majority black district.
The state and civil rights groups — on the same side — are defending the map, conceding that officials did consider race as part of a mandate by the Voting Rights Act to ensure that minority voters were given a fair shot at representation. Still, the state and civiil rights groups are insisting that it did not predominate in decision making.
The Supreme Court is being asked to clarify rules for how states can draw maps that comply with two competing rules : VRA mandates to protect minority voter rights and the Equal Protection Clause, which ensures that everyone is treated equally under the law.
The balancing act could have consequences for who controls power in Washington.
Republicans have a razor-thin majority in the House, which means every single seat could be key to the balance of power after the 2026 midterm elections.
A decision in the case is expected by the end of June.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump seemed to issue a warning to individuals who participate in Tesla vandalisms, as reports of destruction to vehicles, dealerships and charging stations surge across the country.
Early Friday morning, Trump posted on his social media platform: “People that get caught sabotaging Teslas will stand a very good chance of going to jail for up to twenty years, and that includes funders. WE ARE LOOKING FOR YOU!!!”
He also suggested those found guilty of participating in Tesla-related crimes could be sent to prison in El Salvador, referring to the administration’s controversial move to deport alleged gang members to the country after Trump signed a proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act even though a court order temporarily blocked the authority.
“I look forward to watching the sick terrorist thugs get 20 year jail sentences for what they are doing to Elon Musk and Tesla,” Trump said in a posting. “Perhaps they would serve them in the prisons of El Salvador, which have become so recently famous for such lovely conditions.”
Recent attacks aimed at Tesla have been reported in Seattle, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Charleston and other cities across the United States since Tesla CEO Elon Musk began his role with the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
When asked about his comments at the White House on Friday afternoon, Trump called the vandalism suspects “terrorists” and appeared to argue what was happening with Tesla vehicles was worse than what happened during the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol.
“You didn’t have that on January 6, I can tell you. You didn’t have anything like that on January 6, which is sort of amazing,” Trump said.
Three people have been charged for their alleged involvement in recent attacks against Tesla properties in Salem, Oregon; Loveland, Colorado; and North Charleston, South Carolina. Adam Lansky of Salem was charged with illegally possessing an unregistered destructive device on March 5, Lucy Grace Nelson of Lyons, Colorado, was charged with one count of malicious destruction of property on Feb. 27 and Daniel Clarke-Pounder of North Charleston was charged with arson on March 15, according to federal prosecutors.
Both Lansky and Clarke-Pounder have not entered any pleas, but Nelson pleaded not guilty on March 11, according to court records.
Attorney General Pam Bondi also spoke out against the Tesla vandalisms, saying on Thursday the three suspects will face the “full force of the law” for allegedly using Molotov cocktails to set fire to the electric vehicles and charging stations.
“The days of committing crimes without consequence have ended,” Bondi said in a statement. “Let this be a warning: if you join this wave of domestic terrorism against Tesla properties, the Department of Justice will put you behind bars.”
More Tesla incidents continue to pop up across the country, with the latest occurring in Fargo, North Dakota, early Friday morning, where fire crews found “a small fire in wood chips at the base of the electric vehicle chargers in the parking lot,” according to the Fargo Fire Department.
Officials said the fire is considered “suspicious” and the cause of the fire is under investigation. It is unclear whether the fire damaged the chargers, authorities said.
In addition to the company dealing with the recent attacks, Tesla’s stocks have tumbled nearly 48% this year and in recent weeks, four top officers at the company have sold off $100 million in stock, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Musk, the owner of X, reposted reactions to Trump’s comments on Friday, including one that said “ESPECIALLY the funders” should be held responsible for these attacks.
A spokesperson for Tesla did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
(WASHINGTON) — Tech billionaire Elon Musk was slated to visit the Pentagon on Friday and attend a meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that would touch on China, among other things, two United States officials confirmed to ABC News — but that plan changed after The New York Times reported Musk would be briefed on potential China war plans.
Musk visited the Pentagon on Friday — but instead of meeting with the Joint Chiefs, Musk met with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and staffers, a U.S. official said.
The meeting between Musk and the Joint Chiefs was to be at the unclassified level and attended virtually by Adm. Sam Paparo, the commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, one official said. But some time between the publication of The New York Times story on Thursday and Musk’s visit to the Pentagon Friday morning, the visit turned into just a meeting with Hegseth.
The New York Times reported that Musk would receive a briefing from senior military leaders about a top-secret military plan for potential war with China. The publication said the meeting was canceled because of its initial report.
Musk, Hegseth and President Donald Trump denied the report — with Trump asserting that Musk would not be briefed on a war plan with China.
“I don’t want to show that to anybody. But certainly, you wouldn’t show it to a businessman who is helping us so much. He’s a great patriot … But I certainly wouldn’t want — you know, Elon has businesses in China, and he would be susceptible perhaps to that. But it was such a fake story,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday.
“I don’t want to show that to anybody. But certainly, you wouldn’t show it to a businessman who is helping us so much. He’s a great patriot … But I certainly wouldn’t want — you know, Elon has businesses in China, and he would be susceptible perhaps to that. But it was such a fake story,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday.
Musk arrived at the Pentagon just before 9 a.m. and remained in Hegseth’s office for the duration of his visit.
The meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff did take place as scheduled, but Paparo did not join the meeting as previously scheduled. One of the officials said the meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the in the conference room known as “The Tank” went on for about two hours.
Musk left the Pentagon at 10:21 a.m. — about 20 minutes after it appeared that the meeting in The Tank actually got underway.
As Musk departed Hegseth’s office on Friday, he was asked by reporters how the meeting went and responded that “it’s always a great meeting.”
“I’ve been here before, you know,” Musk added as both he and Hegseth walked together. Musk did visit the Pentagon in 2016 to meet with then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter.
When they were outside the Pentagon, Hegseth and Musk shook hands and Musk was overhead to say, “If there’s anything I can do to be helpful, I’d like to see you.”
Neither responded to questions at that time about whether they had discussed China or if was a classified briefing.
Hegseth previously posted on X that the meeting was not about “China war plans,” but rather described it as an “informal meeting about innovation, efficiencies & smarter production.”
Trump posted on his conservative social media platform that China would not be mentioned or discussed during the meeting.
Musk went so far as to suggest there should be prosecutions of anyone at the Pentagon who may have leaked information.
“They will be found,” Musk wrote on X.
ABC News’ Justin Gomez and Chris Boccia contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump stands with Secretary of Education Linda McMahon /Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump announced Friday that two key functions of the agency he is seeking to dismantle, the Department of Education, will be moved to new departments: The Small Business Administration will take on student loans, and the Department of Health and Human Services will take on special needs and nutrition efforts.
“I do want to say that I’ve decided that the SBA, the Small Business Administration, headed by Kelly Loeffler, [who] is a terrific person, will handle all of the student loan portfolio,” he said.
“We have a portfolio that’s very large, lots of loans, tens of thousands of loans — pretty complicated deal. And that’s coming out of the Department of Education immediately,” Trump said, adding that he believes it will be “serviced much better” than it has been.
Student loans are currently overseen by the Federal Student Aid Office within the Department of Education, and it handles not tens of thousands of dollars in loans but $1.6 trillion in loans for 43 million people.
However, the SBA, which already handles billions of dollars in loans each year, has faced cuts since Trump took office, saying it would reduce its staff by 43% amid agencywide reorganization.
The SBA said it would “eliminate approximately 2,700 active positions out of a total active workforce of nearly 6,500 through voluntary resignations, the expiration of COVID-era and other term appointments, and a limited number of reductions in force.”
The Federal Student Aid Office employs over 1,000 employees, but it is unclear whether these employees would move under the SBA or how the agency would handle an influx in loans to manage.
Trump noted that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s HHS will handle “special needs and all of the nutrition programs and everything else,” conceding that it’s “rather complex.”
“Those two elements will be taken out of the Department of Education, and then all we have to do is get the students to get guidance from the people that love them and cherish them,” Trump said.
The president maintained that the core functions would remain intact.
“Pell Grants, Title 1, funding resources for children with disabilities and special needs will be preserved, fully preserved,” Trump said Thursday before signing the bill. “They’re going to be preserved in full and redistributed to various other agencies and departments that will take very good care of them.”
The president did not offer any details about how exactly those portfolios would be transferred to other agencies, saying only that it would happen “immediately.”
At least one component of the plan — moving the student loan system to another department — is likely to face significant legal pushback.
The central legal issue is likely to focus on the Higher Education Act of 1965, which stipulates that the Federal Student Aid Office should be under the purview of the secretary of education.
“Congress has charged the secretary of education with administering the federal student aid program by issuing student loans and grants to support students’ attainment of higher education,” said Andrew Cook, press secretary for the American Federation of Teachers. “The department’s office of Federal Student Aid is statutorily mandated to do so and has the unique expertise to manage the complex student aid program.”
AFT President Randi Weingarten was more blunt: “See you in court,” she said in a statement after Trump signed the executive order on Thursday.
