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US President Donald Trump on Wednesday dismissed a scandal over leaked plans for Yemen air strikes as a “witch hunt” and defended his embattled Pentagon chief amid calls by Democrats for him to quit.Republican Trump lashed out after the Atlantic Magazine published the transcript of messages accidentally shared with its editor in a chat group of senior US officials on Signal, a commercially available messaging app.Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth revealed details in the chat including the times of strikes on Iran-backed Huthi rebels and the type of aircraft, missiles and drones used, before the attacks actually happened, the Atlantic said.”Hegseth is doing a great job, he had nothing to do with this,” Trump said when asked by AFP in the Oval Office whether Hegseth should consider his position over the scandal.”How do you bring Hegseth into this? Look, look it’s all a witch hunt,” added Trump, who was taking questions after announcing new tariffs on foreign-made cars.Trump repeated his insistence that no classified information was shared in the breach, and added that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz “took responsibility” for the error.It was Waltz who mistakenly added journalist Jeffrey Goldberg to the chat, sparking what has been dubbed “Signalgate” in the biggest scandal since Trump returned to power in January.- ‘Resign in disgrace’ -The magazine initially withheld the details of the attack plans, but finally published them on Thursday after White House had insisted that no classified details were involved and attacked Goldberg as a liar.The White House and a string of officials involved in the chat lined up to try to downplay the story as the pressure mounted.Hegseth, visiting Hawaii, himself said the exchange on March 15 involved “No names. No targets.”US Vice President JD Vance, who fired a rifle on a shooting range while visiting a Marines base near Washington, said the Atlantic had “overplayed” what happened.Only Secretary of State Marco Rubio admitted that there had been a “big mistake,” while highlighting his own limited role.Democrats have trained much of their fire on Hegseth, a former Fox News contributor and veteran.”The secretary of defense should be fired immediately if he’s not man enough to own up to his mistakes and resign in disgrace,” House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries told MSNBC.Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth said Trump should sack all the officials in the chat and called Hegseth a “liar” who “could’ve gotten our pilots killed.”Meanwhile Roger Wicker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he was seeking an independent report from the Trump administration.- ‘Anti-Trump hater’ -The Atlantic said the texting was done barely half an hour before the first US warplanes took off to hit the Huthis on March 15 — and two hours before the first target was expected to be bombed.”1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package)”, Hegseth writes, referring to US Navy jet fighters, before adding that “Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME.””1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier ‘Trigger Based’ targets).”Hegseth wrote also writes about the use of US drones and Tomahawk cruise missiles.A short time later, Waltz sent real-time intelligence on the aftermath of an attack, writing that US forces had identified the target “walking into his girlfriend’s building and it’s now collapsed.”Peppered with questions at a daily press briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described Goldberg as an “anti-Trump hater.”Elon Musk, the billionaire running a huge government cost-cutting drive for Trump, had offered “technical experts” to find out how he was added to the chat, she added.Trump’s comments came as Huthi media said late Wednesday that new US strikes had hit the rebel-held capital Sanaa, after earlier reporting 19 American raids elsewhere in  Yemen. His administration has stepped up attacks on the Huthi rebels in response to constant attempts to sink and disrupt shipping through the strategic Red Sea. The Huthis claim they are acting in solidarity with Gaza amid Hamas’s war on Israel.

New York’s storied Frick Collection will reopen its doors on April 17 after five years closed to the public for a major renovation which curators hope will future-proof the collection of former coal and steel magnate Henry Clay Frick.”The Frick is back!” proclaimed Axel Rueger, director of the museum — a 20th century mansion filled with paintings, sculptures, and decorative pieces dating from the Renaissance to the 19th century.The collection of approximately 1,800 works includes works from Rembrandt, Vermeer, Whistler and Fragonard. The top-to-bottom renovation, which cost $330 million and saw the collection temporarily transferred to another Manhattan location, features 10 new rooms on the first floor, where the family’s private quarters used to be.It also includes a new 218-seat auditorium built below the garden, and direct access to the Frick Art Library, founded a century ago by Helen Clay Frick — the magnate’s only daughter — and converted into a global hub for art history research.”It’s been like a massive jigsaw puzzle in getting everything together and getting everything to work together,” said deputy director Xavier Salomon, who proudly declared that many details had been restored to their 1935 state when the museum first opened.Frick left the building and his art collection to be enjoyed by the public after his death in 1919. The art enthusiast also wanted his collection to be expanded with works reflecting his interests, said Salomon. The collection has more than doubled in size since it was first put on public display.”Everything has to change for everything to remain the same,” said Salomon. Starting June 18, the museum will exhibit “Vermeer’s Love Letters,” celebrating the Dutch painter by displaying three of his most celebrated works in the same gallery for the first time — including two special loans.Ian Wardropper, the former director of the Frick Collection who oversaw the transformation, said “our goal and priority have always been to preserve and revitalize the experience that makes the Frick so unique.”

Emarketer on Wednesday forecast that ad revenue at X, formerly Twitter, will grow this year as brands fear retaliation by politically connected owner Elon Musk if they stay away.X’s billionaire owner, the world’s richest person, is a major financial backer of US President Donald Trump, and heads a Department of Government Efficiency that has been slashing the ranks of government employees.”Many advertisers may view spending on X as a cost of doing business in order to mitigate potential legal or financial repercussions,” said Emarketer principal analyst Jasmine Enberg.”But fear is not a sustainable motivator and the situation remains volatile, partly as some consumers’ discontent toward Musk grows.”Also factored into the expectation that X will have its first year of positive ad growth since 2021 was Meta’s decision to drop or amend content moderation protocols, as the tech giant cozies up to Trump.Industry watchers expect the hateful content that has flourished on X under Musk to also pervade Meta’s platforms as the changes go into effect. Emarketer expects X ad revenue worldwide to grow 16.5 percent this year, after losing ground annually since Musk bought Twitter for about $44 billion in late 2022.”X’s ad business is recovering, but it’s too soon to call it a rebound,” Enberg said.The social media platform’s forecasted revenue this year will still be less than it was in 2019, according to Emarketer.X has managed to attract advertising from small- and medium-sized businesses that Twitter historically struggled to win over, the analyst said.Meta’s recent decision to ease off on moderating content could be benefitting X, Enberg reasoned.Emarketer forecast that Meta ad revenue will grow slightly more than 11 percent in the United States this year.”While advertisers still care about brand safety, many are getting a reality check that they may not have as much control over where and how their ads show up as they thought,” Enberg said.”The kind of hateful and controversial content that prompted advertisers to flee X is no more acceptable, but there is a sense that it could become unavoidable.”

US President Donald Trump ramped up his claims to Greenland on Wednesday, saying ahead of a visit by Vice President JD Vance that the United States needed to take control of the Danish island for “international security.”Since coming to power in January, Trump has repeatedly insisted that he wants the self-governed territory to be in Washington’s grip, refusing to rule out the use of force to do so.”We need Greenland for international safety and security. We need it. We have to have it,” Trump told podcaster Vince Coglianese. “I hate to put it that way, but we’re going to have to have it.”Greenland, which is seeking independence from Denmark, holds massive untapped mineral and oil reserves, though oil and uranium exploration are banned.It is also strategically located between North America and Europe at a time of rising US, Chinese and Russian interest in the Arctic, where sea lanes have opened up because of climate change.Asked if he thought Greenlanders were eager to join the United States, Trump said he did not know.”We have to convince them,” he said. “And we have to have that land, because it’s not possible to properly defend a large section of this Earth, not just the United States, without it.”Trump’s comments prompted Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to say on her Facebook account: “We mustn’t have illusions — President Trump’s interest in Greenland is not going away”.”They know that Greenland is not for sale. They know that Greenland doesn’t want to be part of the United States,” she added, saying the message had been communicated “unambiguously.”- Dogsled visit dropped -Trump’s latest strident comments come as Vice President Vance is due to accompany his wife Usha on a visit to the US-run Pituffik Space Base in Greenland on Friday.Frederiksen and Greenland’s outgoing Prime Minister Mute Egede had earlier harshly criticized plans by a US delegation to visit the Arctic island uninvited for what was initially a much broader visit.Egede had characterized the initial plans as “foreign interference,” noting that the outgoing government had not “sent out any invitations for visits, private or official.”On Wednesday, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen welcomed the decision to limit the visit to the US space base.”I think it’s very positive that the Americans have canceled their visit among Greenlandic society. They will only visit their own base, Pituffik, and we have nothing against that,” he told public broadcaster DR.Formerly known as Thule Air Base, the Pituffik Space Base is the United States’ northernmost military installation and supports missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance missions.The White House on Tuesday said the Vances’ visit to the space base would take place in lieu of the second lady’s scheduled visit to a dogsled race in Sisimiut, where an anti-US demonstration was reportedly planned.- ‘Respect this process’ -Greenlandic officials have repeatedly said the territory does not want to be either Danish or American, but is “open for business” with everyone.”There is no doubt we find ourselves in a tough situation,” Frederiksen said of Trump’s repeated comments on a takeover, predicting “a situation that will ebb and flow, maybe for a long time yet.”According to opinion polls, most Greenlanders support independence from Denmark but not annexation by Washington.Following March 11 elections, Greenland has only a transitional government, with parties still in negotiations to form a new coalition government.Marc Jacobsen, a senior lecturer at the Royal Danish Defense College, called the decision to limit the US visit “a de-escalation,” a term also used by Foreign Minister Lokke.”You do not come to another country when you haven’t been welcomed,” he told AFP.Jacobsen added that the planned anti-US demonstration in Sisimiut, after a similar protest in the capital Nuuk on March 15, may have also factored into Vance’s decision to contain the visit.

US authorities have detained a Turkish university student, the latest action taken against a foreign learner associated with pro-Palestinian campus activism as President Donald Trump cracks down on the movement.Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk was detained by federal agents late Tuesday in the town of Somerville, Massachusetts, the school’s president said in a statement.Ozturk filed a motion demanding authorities show lawful grounds for her detention and a judge issued a decision barring officers from removing her from Massachusetts, according to legal filings made public Tuesday.Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s detainee locator tool showed that Ozturk was in custody Wednesday, although it did not state where.Ozturk co-authored an article in the university student newspaper The Tufts Daily in March 2024 criticizing the college’s handling of student anger around Israel’s war in Gaza.According to the newspaper, Ozturk is a doctoral candidate in the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development.A protest was planned for 2130 GMT Wednesday in Somerville to oppose Ozturk’s detention, according to the Cambridge Day news site.Trump has targeted prestigious universities that became the epicenter of the US student protest movement sparked by Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, stripping federal funds and directing immigration officers to deport foreign student demonstrators.Critics argue that the campaign amounts to retribution and will have a chilling effect on free speech, while its supporters insist it is necessary to restore order to campuses and protect Jewish students.At New York’s Columbia University, immigration officers detained one student, permanent resident Mahmoud Khalil whose lawyers are fighting his deportation, while a judge thwarted efforts to detain another, Yunseo Chung.Separately, a number of university professors sued the Trump administration in Massachusetts Tuesday, arguing its campaign targeting foreign academics was illegal.”The policy prevents or impedes Plaintiffs’ US citizen members from hearing from, and associating with, their non-citizen students and colleagues,” the lawsuit reads.In addition, the American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers asked a New York judge to declare Trump’s slashing of $400 million from Columbia’s budget unconstitutional and to restore the funding.Columbia announced Friday a package of concessions to the Trump administration around defining anti-Semitism, policing protests and oversight for specific academic departments.They stopped short however of some of the more strenuous demands of the Trump administration, which nonetheless welcomed the Ivy League college’s proposals.

US President Donald Trump’s homeland security chief visited El Salvador on Wednesday for talks on migrant deportations and to see a mega-prison housing Venezuelans expelled by his administration.Relatives and Caracas say the 238 deported Venezuelans are innocent migrants, but Washington accuses them of belonging to the Tren de Aragua criminal gang, which it has designated a “terrorist” organization.The deportations “sent a message to the world that America is no longer a safe haven for violent criminals,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on social media before her visit.She welcomed the opportunity to see for herself “the detention center where the worst-of-the-worst criminals are housed,” on the first stop of a regional tour that will also include Colombia and Mexico.Noem said she would meet Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele to discuss how the United States “can increase the number of deportation flights and removals of violent criminals from the US.”Trump invoked rarely used US wartime legislation to fly the Venezuelans to El Salvador on March 16, without the migrants being afforded any kind of court hearing.The deportations took place despite a US federal judge granting a temporary suspension of the expulsion order, and the men were taken in chains, their heads freshly shorn, to El Salvador’s maximum security “Terrorism Confinement Center” (CECOT).On Monday, a law firm hired by Caracas filed a habeas corpus petition, demanding justification be provided for the migrants’ continued detention.Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said the motion seeks the release of countrymen he described as having been kidnapped.According to the White House, Washington paid the Bukele administration around $6 million for the detention of the deportees.- ‘Dangerous step’ -Rights group Amnesty International said the mass expulsion “represents not only a flagrant disregard of the United States’ human rights obligations, but also a dangerous step toward authoritarian practices.”It said there was “a clear and troubling connection” between Bukele’s methods and the recent US actions, as “both rely on a lack of due process and the criminalization of individuals based on discriminatory criteria.”Bukele is hailed at home for his crackdown on violent crime — with tens of thousands of suspected gangsters sent to the maximum security CECOT facility.Human rights groups have criticized the drive for a wide range of alleged abuses.Salvadoran Minister of Justice and Security Gustavo Villatoro will accompany Noem on the visit to CECOT, considered the largest prison in Latin America.Guarded by soldiers and police, the jail has high electrified walls and a capacity for 40,000 inmates, who are denied family visits.Human rights organizations have voiced concern that more innocent migrants risk being incarcerated at the prison.”There is growing evidence that many people who were sent to El Salvador are not part of Tren de Aragua, and that they are exposed to serious human rights violations,” said Juan Pappier, deputy Americas director at Human Rights Watch. “The main danger is that the US continues sending innocent people” to Salvadoran prisons, he told AFP.Salvadoran authorities have arrested more than 86,000 suspected gang members under Bukele’s crackdown, although several thousand were released after being found innocent.Collaborating with Trump “could be a risky move” for Bukele, despite the potential benefits, said Diego Chaves-Gonzalez, an analyst at the Migration Policy Institute in the United States.”It could also generate tensions if a future US administration considers that these practices violate human rights or affect bilateral cooperation,” he told AFP.Salvadoran analyst and academic Carlos Carcach said the cooperation would “reinforce the negative image” that the Central American country already has due to Bukele’s methods.”What we are witnessing is the consolidation of an authoritarian regime in El Salvador with the support of the world’s greatest power,” he said.

Tesla, the Elon Musk-run auto company, has had a turbulent time recently, fueled by its chief executive’s close ties to Donald Trump and increased electric vehicle competition.The mounting issues have sent the company’s share price tumbling in recent weeks. Here are some of the biggest challenges it faces: – Pole position under threat -Gone are the days when Tesla was far and away the world leader in electric vehicle sales.China’s BYD is now snapping at Tesla’s heels, selling 1.76 million vehicles in 2024 — up 12 percent year-on-year — to Tesla’s 1.79 million, a one percent decline.Including hybrid vehicles, BYD’s revenues actually exceeded the US auto maker’s last year, $107.2 billion to $97.7 billion.To make matters worse, Musk’s leading role in the Trump administration — and vocal support for far-right politics in Europe — appears to be hampering Tesla’s bottom line.The company’s registrations fell 49 percent year-on-year in January and February in the European Union.Tesla has “moderated” its initial forecast of a 20-to-30 percent sales increase in 2025, according to CFRA Research analyst Garrett Nelson. “We’re looking at a 5 percent decline but it could be much more than that,” he told AFP.- Potholes -In the United States, France, and Germany, Tesla stores, charging stations and vehicles have been vandalized in recent weeks.Protests have also been called in which participants have criticized the world’s richest person for his heavy hand in US and international politics. In New York, one recent sign asserted that “Tesla finances fascism” and called for a boycott of its cars.And in Germany, where an arson attack in March 2024 halted production at Tesla’s plant in Germany, Musk has come under heavy criticism for his support of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in the parliamentary elections.”The biggest concern now is regarding the brand value,” said Nelson from CFRA. “Picking a side, Republican or Democrat, can really do a lot of damage,” he added, pointing to the way Tesla’s stock had fallen “dramatically,” losing around a third of its value since the start of the year.Tesla is also suffering because the range of vehicles it has for sale has remained largely unchanged since the Model Y was released in 2020.”Lack of innovation, lack of new models,” Nelson said, adding this was a “big reason why Tesla has lost market share in China to BYD.”The Cybertruck was the only new model to be released recently, but its sales had been “very disappointing,” he said. The pickup truck, which was plagued by delays, was finally released at the end of 2023, but has since suffered a series of recalls. The latest, on March 20, concerned all 46,096 Cybertrucks currently in circulation, whose body panels were in danger of coming unstuck.Tesla’s long-promised low-cost model still seems to be a long way off. – Escape routes -The brand’s salvation could come from its full self-driving (FSD) feature, where it has a “major advantage” that represents a “huge market opportunity,” with a global market estimated at $5 trillion, Nelson said.He thinks Tesla is in a stronger position than Google’s Waymo, whose robotaxis have operated in several US cities since 2010.However, the company’s much-trailed Cybercab competitor is still several months away from starting road trials in Austin, Texas.The Trump administration is preparing a “new” federal regulatory framework for fully autonomous driving, Nelson said, adding it has also begun to reduce support for the energy transition, which should benefit Tesla given its comparative advantage in the United States.In his view, Tesla and Musk both enjoy the unwavering loyalty of shareholders, but to reassure them, some sort of senior executive should be appointed to take care of the day-to-day running of the company from Musk.”He is spending most of his time in Washington, D.C., right now,” Nelson said.”He is less focused on the day to day of what’s happening operationally at such a critical time in Tesla’s history.”

US President Donald Trump’s Homeland Security chief arrived in El Salvador on Wednesday for talks on migrant deportations and a visit to a mega-prison housing Venezuelans expelled by his administration.Relatives and Caracas say the 238 deported Venezuelans are innocent migrants, but Washington accuses them of belonging to the Tren de Aragua criminal gang, which it has designated a “terrorist” organization.The deportations “sent a message to the world that America is no longer a safe haven for violent criminals,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on social media before her visit.She welcomed the opportunity to see for herself “the detention center where the worst-of-the-worst criminals are housed,” on the first stop of a regional tour that will also include Colombia and Mexico.Noem said she would meet Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele to discuss how the United States “can increase the number of deportation flights and removals of violent criminals from the US.”Trump invoked rarely used US wartime legislation to fly the Venezuelans to El Salvador on March 16, without the migrants being afforded any kind of court hearing.The deportations took place despite a US federal judge granting a temporary suspension of the expulsion order, and the men were taken in chains, their heads freshly shorn, to El Salvador’s maximum security “Terrorism Confinement Center” (CECOT).On Monday, a law firm hired by Caracas filed a habeas corpus petition, demanding justification be provided for the migrants’ continued detention.Bukele is hailed at home for his crackdown on violent crime — with tens of thousands of suspected gangsters sent to the maximum security CECOT facility.Human rights groups have criticized the drive for a wide range of alleged abuses.Salvadoran Minister of Justice and Security Gustavo Villatoro will accompany Noem on the visit to CECOT, considered the largest prison in Latin America.Guarded by soldiers and police, the jail has high electrified walls and a capacity for 40,000 inmates, who are denied family visits.

US President Donald Trump will announce tariffs on auto imports Wednesday, the White House said, in a move set to fuel tensions with trading partners ahead of further promised levies next week.White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump would unveil the “auto industry” tariffs in an address at 4:00 pm (2000 GMT), without providing details on their extent.Since returning to the presidency in January, Trump has already imposed tariffs on imports from major US trading partners Canada, Mexico and China — as well as a 25 percent duty on steel and aluminum imports.But he previously offered automakers temporary reprieve from the levies affecting North America.Uncertainty over Trump’s trade plans and worries they could trigger a downturn have roiled financial markets, with consumer confidence also falling in recent months amid fears of the tariffs’ effects.Shortly after Leavitt’s remarks, shares in major automaker Ford slumped by 1.8 percent while those of General Motors dropped 1.9 percent.In February, Trump said US tariffs on imported cars would be “in the neighborhood of 25 percent.”The Trump administration has referred to levies as a way to raise government revenue, revitalize American industry and press countries on US priorities.But targeting imported cars could strain ties with countries like Japan, South Korea, Canada, Mexico and Germany — which are close US partners. About 50 percent of cars sold in the United States are manufactured within the country. Among imports, about half come from Mexico and Canada, with Japan, South Korea and Germany, also major suppliers.The Center for Automotive Research has previously estimated that US tariffs –- including those on metals and imported autos –- could increase the price of a car by thousands of dollars and weigh on the jobs market.- ‘Liberation Day’ -Besides the automobile industry, Trump has also been eyeing sector-specific tariffs on industries like pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.Wednesday’s announcement on autos comes ahead of April 2, which Trump has dubbed “Liberation Day” for the world’s biggest economy.He has promised reciprocal levies on the date, tailored to different trading partners in an attempt to remedy practices that Washington deemed unfair.It is unclear if sector-specific tariffs would be announced on April 2 also, with the White House noting this week that the situation remained fluid.Trump told reporters Monday that he might “give a lot of countries breaks” eventually, without elaborating.He told Newsmax on Tuesday: “I’ll probably be more lenient than reciprocal, because if I was reciprocal, that would be very tough for people.”But he added that he did not want too many exceptions.Hopes of a narrower tariff rollout had given financial markets a boost, but investors remain jittery over rapid policy changes.While Trump has invoked emergency economic powers for some recent tariffs, his auto levies may build on a previous government investigation completed in 2019, former US trade official Ryan Majerus told AFP.The probe found that excessive imports were weakening the internal economy and might impair national security.At the time, one recommendation was to institute tariffs of up to 25 percent to bolster US production of autos and parts.”The advantage with autos,” said Majerus, now a partner at the King & Spalding law firm, is that the administration “can act a lot quicker if they want, as opposed to, say in lumber or copper, where they had to launch investigations.”US trade partners have been furthering talks with Washington as Trump’s reciprocal tariff deadline looms.EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic met his American counterparts Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and trade envoy Jamieson Greer this week.Sefcovic said on social media that “the EU’s priority is a fair, balanced deal instead of unjustified tariffs.”

A US magazine published Wednesday the transcript of accidentally leaked messages laying out plans for an attack on Yemen, heaping pressure on Donald Trump’s White House and boosting calls for top officials to resign.The White House insisted that Trump still had confidence in his national security team, despite revelations in The Atlantic that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had revealed details including the times of strikes in advance.The Atlantic’s editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg reported earlier this week that he had been mistakenly added to the chat on the commercially available Signal app in a stunning security breach.The magazine initially withheld the details of the attack plans, but finally published them on Thursday after White House had insisted that no classified details were involved and attacked Goldbeg as a liar.The Trump administration doubled down on its attacks on Wednesday.Peppered with questions at a daily press briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described Goldberg as an “anti-Trump hater” who “loves manufacturing and pushing hoaxes.” Leavitt would not respond directly when asked if she could definitively say that no officials would lose their jobs as Democrats called for heads to roll over the so-called “Signalgate” scandal.”What I can say definitively is what I just spoke to the president about, and he continues to have confidence in his national security team,” Leavitt told reporters.Elon Musk, the billionaire running a huge government cost-cutting drive for Trump, had “offered to put his technical experts on this” to establish how Goldberg was added to the chat, she added.- ‘Big mistake’ -Democrats in particular turned their fire on Hegseth, the former Fox News contributor and veteran who has never run a huge organization like the Pentagon before.They have also called for National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, who has taken responsibility for accidentally adding the journalist to the chat, to go.Hegseth claimed the exchange about the attacks on Huthi rebels on March 15 had “No names. No targets” and said they were not “war plans.””My job… is to provide updates in real time, general updates in real time, keep everybody informed, that’s what I did,” he told reporters on a visit to Hawaii on Wednesday.Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was also included in the chat, admitted Wednesday that including the journalist was a “big mistake.”But calls mounted for Trump to sack officials over the breach. “The secretary of defense should be fired immediately if he’s not man enough to own up to his mistakes and resign in disgrace,” House Democrat leader Hakeem Jeffries told MSNBC.Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth said Trump should fire all the officials in the chat and called Hegseth a “liar” who “could’ve gotten our pilots killed.”The US House of Representatives discussed the scandal in a hearing Wednesday.- ‘First bombs’ -The Atlantic said the texting was done barely half an hour before the first US warplanes took off to hit the Huthis — and two hours before the first target was expected to be bombed.”1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package)”, Hegseth writes, referring to F-18 US Navy jets, before adding that “Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME.””1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier ‘Trigger Based’ targets).”Hegseth also writes about the use of US drones and Tomahawk cruise missiles. A short time later, Waltz sent real-time intelligence on the aftermath of an attack, writing that US forces had identified the target “walking into his girlfriend’s building and it’s now collapsed.”The story also threatens to cause further ructions between Washington and its allies, after Goldberg revealed disparaging comments by Vance and Hegseth about “pathetic” European nations during their chat.The Trump administration has stepped up attacks on the Huthi rebels in response to constant attempts to sink and disrupt shipping through the strategic Red Sea.The Huthi rebels, who have controlled much of Yemen for more than a decade, are part of the “axis of resistance” of pro-Iran groups staunchly opposed to Israel and the US.