In a recent Cabinet meeting at the White House, U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz was spotted engaging with a modified version of the messaging app Signal, despite President Donald Trump’s previous discouragement of its use following the “Signalgate” leak controversy. A photograph captured by Reuters’ Evelyn Hockstein reveals Waltz discreetly holding his phone below the table, the app open and active with conversations involving at least six other officials, including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The timestamps on the messaging threads indicate that discussions were ongoing as recently as the morning of the meeting, raising eyebrows about the nature of the communications taking place among top officials. When approached for clarification, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly reiterated that Signal is an approved application for government use, a sentiment echoed by White House communications director Steven Cheung on social media.
However, the version of Signal that Waltz appeared to be using seems to have undergone modifications. The PIN verification message visible in the photograph deviates from the standard Signal interface, suggesting that it may be a product of TeleMessage, a company known for providing archiving capabilities to messaging applications. This adaptation could potentially address concerns raised during the Signalgate controversy regarding the deletion of private chats among officials.
TeleMessage, often referred to as a “fork” of Signal, markets its services to government agencies and businesses, ensuring compliance with records retention laws by creating backup copies of conversations. Yet, this functionality raises questions about the integrity of Signal’s end-to-end encryption, as messages may be retrievable from external storage, compromising the privacy that Signal is designed to protect.
Founded in 1999 in Israel, TeleMessage has a history tied to military intelligence, with its CEO, Guy Levit, having previously held a significant role within the Israel Defense Forces. The company was acquired last year by Smarsh, an Oregon-based firm focused on regulatory compliance. Smarsh’s president, Tom Padgett, emphasized their commitment to helping clients meet legal obligations but refrained from confirming whether Waltz was indeed using TeleMessage during the Cabinet meeting.
The use of Signal by Trump administration officials has previously sparked significant controversy, particularly when Waltz was involved in discussions regarding military actions in Yemen. The inadvertent inclusion of a journalist in these discussions led to public outcry and calls for resignations, with the Pentagon launching an investigation into the use of commercial messaging for official matters.
In a recent interview, Trump reflected on the lessons learned from the Signalgate incident, suggesting that officials might reconsider their use of Signal altogether. As Waltz prepares for his new role as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, the implications of these communications and the ongoing scrutiny of messaging practices within the administration remain a focal point of interest.
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