Battle Plans and Emojis: What the Signal Leak Revealed About Washington

The New York Times reporters Jess Bidgood, Helene Cooper, Zolan Kanno-Youngs and David E. Sanger discuss what the Signal chat leak revealed about the Trump administration and the state of politics in Washington.

It’s the national security scandal no one saw coming — and the first major test of a new administration that prides itself on breaking norms.

This week, we learned that some of the highest-ranking officials in Washington had been orchestrating a bombing campaign in Yemen — via Signal, a messaging app. Their messages, which were accidentally shared with a journalist from The Atlantic, have led to backlash over the administration’s handling of state secrets and opened a rare window into how military decisions are made in the emoji era.

The New York Times reporters Jess Bidgood, Helene Cooper, Zolan Kanno-Youngs and David E. Sanger discuss what the Signal chat leak revealed about the Trump administration and the state of politics in Washington.