
Trump officials discussed sending elite Army division to Portland, text messages show
A high-ranking White House official was indiscreetly texting about the Portland, Ore., planning last weekend, according to messages shared with the Minnesota Star Tribune.
A high-ranking White House official was indiscreetly texting about the Portland, Ore., planning last weekend, according to messages shared with the Minnesota Star Tribune
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth considered sending an elite U.S. Army strike force to Portland, Ore., to quell protests that President Donald Trump has characterized as “lawless mayhem,” according to images of messages provided to the Minnesota Star Tribune.
The messages, casually exchanged last weekend in a crowded, public space, show high-level officials in the Trump administration discussing the deployment of the Army’s 82nd Airborne, an infantry division that has been deployed to combat zones in both world wars, Vietnam and Afghanistan.
Anthony Salisbury, a deputy to White House top policy adviser Stephen Miller, sent the texts over the private messaging app Signal while traveling in Minnesota and in clear view of others. Troubled by seeing sensitive military planning discussed so openly, a source contacted the Star Tribune and allowed a reporter to review images of the texts.
The sheer stupidity of people in this administration certainly makes one wonder about how much our enemies are getting from their failures to use secure communications.