A senior White House official accidentally leaked details of plans to send elite troops to Portland, the latest intelligence leak from the Trump administration.
Anthony Salisbury, the top agent for influential White House policy adviser, used signals in public places to discuss a plan to deploy the Army's 82nd Airborne Division to Portland, Donald Trump's Democratic-run Portland, Oregon, who has been repeatedly denounced as “war-driven.”
The Minnesota Star Tribune obtained an image of the signal information from Salisbury and said it was sent when Minnesota's “see others clearly.”
In a message sent last weekend, Salisbury chatted with Patrick Weaver, senior adviser to U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, according to the Star Tribune.
Weaver wrote that Hegseth wanted Trump to tell him to send troops to Portland.
“Between me and you, I think Pitt wants to be there only on the side of the troops, if there is anything,” Weaver said, “Hegers would rather send the National Guard because of potential backlash rather than using the army.
“No. 82 is like our top [quick reaction force] foreign. So that will cause a lot of headlines,” he added. “Maybe the reason why he wants POTUS [Trump] Tell him to do it. ”
The 82nd Airborne Division is an elite department specializing in parachute attacks and forced entry operations. It was deployed in the World War and the wars in Vietnam and Afghanistan. The most recent commander is the last American soldier to withdraw from Afghanistan in 2021.
On Sunday, Heggs said 200 National Guard members would be deployed “immediately”. On Wednesday, Trump claimed the National Guard “is now in place.” However, NBC News branch KGW reported that the guard has not been deployed yet.
Salisbury was appointed deputy homeland security adviser by Trump. Trump said in announcing the appointment that Salisbury “will bring his extensive law enforcement, anti-drug and anti-cartel experience to the White House.”
White House spokesman Abigail Jackson confirmed Salisbury's funeral in Minnesota in a statement to the Minnesota Star Tribune.
Skip the newsletter promotion
register This week at Trumppland
Deeply understand the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration
Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content funded by external parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information on how we use your data, please refer to our Privacy Policy. We use Google Recaptcha to protect our website and Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
After the newsletter promotion
“Despite handling the grief of losing family members, Tony continues his important work on behalf of the American people,” Jackson told the Star Tribune. “Nothing in these private conversations was shamelessly reported by journalists who were morally bankrupt, which was new or confidential information.”
These news is the latest embarrassing leak from the Trump administration. In March, the Atlantic editor-in-chief was accidentally added to a signal chat used by senior Trump administration officials, including Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance, to discuss a highly sensitive military strike to Yemen.
A month later, Hegseth used a second signal group chat to send details about the strike to his wife, his brother and about a dozen people.
Quick Guide
Contact Us About This Story
exhibit
The best public interest news depends on the first-hand accounts of people in knowledge.
If you can share something on this topic, you can contact us secretly using the following methods.
Secure messaging in the Guardian app
The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are encrypted and hidden end-to-end in the regular activities performed by each Guardian mobile application. This prevents the observer from knowing that you are fully communicating with us, let alone what you are saying.
If you don't have a Guardian app yet, download it (iOS/Android) and go to the menu. Select Secure Message.
Securetrop, instant messenger, email, phone and post office
If you can safely use the TOR network without observing or monitoring, you can send messages and documents to Guardian through our Securedrop platform.
Finally, our guide at theguardian.com/tips lists several ways to connect with us and discusses the pros and cons of everyone.
Illustration: Guardian design/rich cousin
Thank you for your feedback.