The move was intended to circumvent a lack of cellphone service in much of the Pentagon and enable easier communication between Hegseth and other Trump officials, said people familiar with the matter.

The news comes about a month after the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic was mistakenly added to a separate Signal chat with national security leaders.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth allegedly shared sensitive intelligence about impending military operations in Yemen with his wife, brother, advisers, and personal lawyer, in addition to sharing similar details around the same time in the widely reported-on Signal group chat that featured a reporter unbeknownst to the other participants.