Trump backs Hegesth as administration denies it is suffering ‘dysfunction’
US president Donald Trump has said he backs beleaguered defense secretary Pete Hegseth as the row over his use of the Signal messaging deepended, amid a series of chaotic missteps from the administration with grave consequences.
A legal battle with Harvard University appears to have been triggered by a letter sent to the university from the administration prematurely, people have been wrongfully deported, and the IRS has run through a succession of leaders in record time.
Trump said criticism of Hegseth was “fake news” and that pursuing the issue was a “waste of time”. Hegseth has been accused of sharing military details in two different Signal chat groups.
Harrison Fields, a spokesperson for the White House, denied the administration was dysfunctional, saying “You can’t have this many results with high levels of dysfunction”. He did not specify which results the administration was proud of.
A government professor at Georgetown University told the New York Times that it had been reasonable to expect that a Trump administration “more disciplined this time around”. A lack of senior officials and advisers in position around Trump, many of whom have been replaced by campaigning loyalists, compared to his first term, is being blamed in some quarters for the chaotic performance.
Key events
Democratic party Rep Haley Stevens has launched her US senate campaign in Michigan, claiming that Donald Trump’s economic policies are “putting tens of thousands of Michigan jobs at risk.”
Stevens is aiming to make the case that she will protect the state’s crucial auto industry, and said in a campaign video criticising what she described as the “chaos and reckless tariffs” coming out of the administration.
“We absolutely need to put an end to the chaos agenda,” she said in an interview with the Associated Press.
Stevens will face State Sen Mallory McMorrow and former gubernatorial candidate and public health official Abdul El-Sayed in the Democratic primary, while Republican Mike Rogers will also stand, having lost to Sen Elissa Slotkin by just 19,000 votes last time out.
The winner of the contest will replace Democratic senator Gary Peters, who is retiring at the end of his term.
A judge in New York has placed a temporary halt on a plan to allow federal immigration agents to operate within the Rikers Island jail complex.
New York mayor Eric Adams has insisted that the presence of ICE will assist investigations into gang-related activities, but a lawsuit against the plan has accused him of entering into a “quid pro quo” deal with the Trump administration over the plan.
Agents previously had access to the jail, but this was ended in 2014 under New York City’s sanctuary laws.
Political analyst at CNN, Stephen Collinson, has said that defense secretary Pete Hegseth looks “safe – for now.”
Writing for the news network, Collinson said:
President Donald Trump spent huge political capital getting Hegseth confirmed because the Pentagon chief mirrors Trump’s own riotous political identity and instincts. The point of his selection was to show the conventions and traits that normally define top national security officials don’t apply in the president’s tear-it-down second term.
This is why Hegseth seems safe for now. It’s not entirely surprising that the former Fox News anchor isn’t acting like the kind of national security official who guards sensitive information with their life.
But firing Hegseth three months into a tenure that started with national security experts warning he was dangerously unprepared to lead the Pentagon would force an embarrassed Trump to admit he’d made a mistake.
And, critically, Hegseth has not yet committed the unpardonable transgression that led to the departure of two Trump first-term defense secretaries – trying to thwart the president.
Dow Jones index on course for worst April since 1932 amid tariff trade war
The Dow Jones index closed down 971 points last night, dropping 2.4% while the Nasdaq declined 2.5% as investors continue to be spooked by the Trump administration’s tariff-driven trade policies.
On Monday, Donald Trump decried Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell as “Mr Too Late” for not dropping interest rates. Powell has angered Trump by saying that his administration’s tariff policy would most likely lead to higher inflation and slower growth.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the Dow Jones index is on course for “its worst April performance since 1932”, and that the downward trend is because “few [investors] think the administration’s negotiations with trade partners will yield results soon enough to ease the strain.”
It quoted Scott Ladner, chief investment officer at Horizon Investments, saying “It’s impossible to commit capital to an economy that is unstable and unknowable because of policy structure.”
Writing for the Journal, Hannah Erin Lang said “The mood on Wall Street is darkening … Bearishness levels – or expectations that stock prices will fall – among ordinary investors have hovered above 50% for eight consecutive weeks”. That, she reported, is the longest bear majority since records began in 1987.
Trump backs Hegesth as administration denies it is suffering ‘dysfunction’
US president Donald Trump has said he backs beleaguered defense secretary Pete Hegseth as the row over his use of the Signal messaging deepended, amid a series of chaotic missteps from the administration with grave consequences.
A legal battle with Harvard University appears to have been triggered by a letter sent to the university from the administration prematurely, people have been wrongfully deported, and the IRS has run through a succession of leaders in record time.
Trump said criticism of Hegseth was “fake news” and that pursuing the issue was a “waste of time”. Hegseth has been accused of sharing military details in two different Signal chat groups.
Harrison Fields, a spokesperson for the White House, denied the administration was dysfunctional, saying “You can’t have this many results with high levels of dysfunction”. He did not specify which results the administration was proud of.
A government professor at Georgetown University told the New York Times that it had been reasonable to expect that a Trump administration “more disciplined this time around”. A lack of senior officials and advisers in position around Trump, many of whom have been replaced by campaigning loyalists, compared to his first term, is being blamed in some quarters for the chaotic performance.
Welcome and opening summary …
Welcome to the Guardian’s rolling coverage of US politics and the second Trump administration. Here are the headlines …
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President Donald Trump has backed defense secretary Pete Hegseth over his discussions of military information on the Signal platform, saying concerns are a “waste of time”. The White House has denied media reports that it was already in the process of seeking a replacement for Hegseth
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More than 100 presidents of US colleges and universities have signed a statement denouncing the Trump administration’s “unprecedented government overreach and political interference” with higher education
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The Office of Special Counsel has told federal employees it will be droppings its inquiry into the firing of thousands of government staff by the Trump administration
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The Wall Street Journal reports that investors believe the Dow Jones index is heading for its worse April since 1932, over doubts with the Trump administration’s tariff-driven trade policy
