The White House security breach raises concerns among some military spouses and veterans

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — When Alyssa Myatt’s husband served on an aircraft carrier last year, she and other U.S. Navy spouses had to follow strict security protocols that meant driving to the ship’s home port just to learn that its deployment was being extended.

Texting, phone calls and emails about the deployment were restricted. A Facebook group connecting families with sailors was consistently monitored by the Navy, and posts were deleted if they contained sensitive information such as a photo that could give away the ship’s location, Myatt said.

The revelation of a group chat in which Trump administration officials discussed an attack on Houthi rebels in Yemen was difficult to process for some military families, who are held to high standards when it comes to protecting information about the whereabouts and assignments of spouses and loved ones. It has also exasperated some veterans who are questioning the White House’s commitment to security safeguards.

“‘Loose lips sink ships’ is a very real saying,” Myatt said of the World War II-era warning. Her husband served on the USS Eisenhower in 2024 as the Navy shot down Houthi-launched missiles in the Red Sea.

Although President Donald Trump has downplayed the security breach as a “glitch,” Myatt found it deeply concerning because it flouted the strict rules that she and others have had to follow while potentially endangering U.S. sailors like her husband.

“To see these individuals who control our military not taking it seriously sets a precedent that is very scary and could result in dangerous situations for our men and women who serve our country,” Myatt said.

The breach occurred March 15 when top national security officials texted plans for upcoming military strikes in Yemen to a group chat in the publicly available Signal app, which provides encrypted communications but can be hacked. The group included the editor-in-chief for The Atlantic magazine, which reported the incident in a story posted online Monday.

The White House has said that no classified information was posted to the chat. Michael Waltz, Trump’s national security adviser, later took “full responsibility” for the incident.

But Vietnam veteran Edwin J. Thomas says Trump’s Cabinet officials should have known better.

Thomas, 78, was visiting the U.S. Army Airborne & Special Operations Museum in Fayetteville, North Carolina, home to Fort Bragg, the nation’s largest Army installation.

Thomas, who carried a heavy machine gun during his time in the U.S. Marine Corps, said “everything should be kept confidential, behind closed doors" during military planning. He doesn’t think anyone should be fired, unless they continue to show what he considers poor judgment.

“I think it’s incompetence,” said Thomas, who voted for Trump. “They should have thought about what they were doing at the time when they did it. It’s a mistake. If they correct it, that’s fine. If they continue to use that app, then I think that’s an abuse of power.”

Air Force Reserve veteran David Cameron Wright said it made him angry.

“It makes me think they don’t care about our security," the former senior airman said as he sat by a fountain at North Carolina Veterans Park in Fayetteville.

"I expect more of our people in that type of authority,” he added.

Like Thomas, though, he thinks the White House officials involved should be given a second chance.

“I mean, nobody’s perfect,” he said. “No president, no civilian. Military, nonmilitary. Nobody’s perfect.”

The latest U.S. campaign against the Houthis began with fighter jets launching off the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier and dropping bombs in parts of Yemen, a mission similar to the one Myatt’s husband was on last year.

The Eisenhower's carrier strike group protected merchant vessels and allied warships under fire in a vital Red Sea corridor that leads to the Suez Canal. About 7,000 American sailors were waging the most intense running sea battle since World War II.

The Eisenhower's home port is the nation's largest Navy base in Norfolk and its deployment was extended twice. The aircraft carrier had Wi-Fi, enabling sailors to stay in touch with family through texts, WhatsApp and even phone calls. But there were times when the ship went silent.

“If we weren’t getting emails, if we weren’t getting phone calls, it kind of clued us in that something’s happening,” Myatt said. “Because the ship shut down all communications to protect itself.”

Myatt questioned why White House officials couldn’t share the information about the latest strikes in person, possibly in the famed Situation Room depicted in films and television shows.

“What if it was somebody who wanted to take that information and make a whole lot of money off of it?” she said about the accidental inclusion of an outsider in the chat.

“This isn’t a partisan issue,” Myatt added. “Whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, that should not matter. This is a situation that affects every single American regardless of how you voted.”

Breed reported from Fayetteville.

A Yemeni walks over the debris of a destroyed building following U.S. airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, March 24, 2025. (AP Photo)

A Yemeni views the debris of a building after it was struck by U.S. airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, March 24, 2025. (AP Photo)

FILE - Figther jets maneuver on the deck of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Red Sea on Tuesday, June 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)

FILE - F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jet takes off from the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Dwight D. Eisenhower, also known as the 'IKE', in the south Red Sea, Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a briefing at the White House, Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

This image taken from video provided by the U.S. Navy shows an aircraft launching from the USS Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea before airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (U.S. Navy via AP)

This image taken from video provided by the U.S. Navy shows an aircraft launching from the USS Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea before airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (U.S. Navy via AP)

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinians in the Gaza Strip had little to celebrate on Sunday as they began marking a normally festive Muslim holiday with rapidly dwindling food supplies and no end in sight to the Israel-Hamas war. Israeli strikes overnight into Sunday killed at least 19 people, mostly women and children, health officials said.

Many held prayers outside demolished mosques on the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. It's supposed to be a joyous occasion, when families gather for feasts and purchase new clothes for children — but most of Gaza's 2 million Palestinians are just trying to survive.

“It’s the Eid of sadness,” Adel al-Shaer said after attending outdoor prayers in the central town of Deir al-Balah. “We lost our loved ones, our children, our lives, and our futures. We lost our students, our schools, and our institutions. We lost everything.”

Twenty members of his extended family have been killed in Israeli strikes, including four young nephews just a few days ago, he said as he broke into tears.

Israel ended the ceasefire with Hamas and resumed the 17-month war earlier this month when the militant group refused to accept changes to the agreement reached in January. Israeli strikes have killed hundreds of Palestinians, and Israel has allowed no food, fuel or humanitarian aid to enter for four weeks.

Arab mediators are trying to get the truce back on track, and Hamas said Saturday that it had accepted a new proposal from Egypt and Qatar, the exact details of which were not immediately known. Israel said it had advanced its own proposal in coordination with the United States, which has also been mediating.

Israeli strikes on Sunday killed at least 16 people, including nine children and three women, according to Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis. Two of the children, young girls, appeared to be wearing new clothes purchased for the holiday, according to an Associated Press cameraman.

Another three people were killed in a strike in Deir al-Balah late Saturday, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

"There is killing, displacement, hunger, and a siege," said Saed al-Kourd, a worshipper. “We go out to perform God’s rituals in order to make the children happy, but as for the joy of Eid? There is no Eid.”

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages. Hamas is still holding 59 captives — 24 of whom are believed to be alive — after most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other agreements.

Israel's offensive has killed over 50,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence, and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it operates in densely populated areas.

Israel's bombardment and ground operations have destroyed vast areas of Gaza and at their height had displaced around 90% of the population.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s influential security Cabinet on Sunday approved the construction of a road for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, which critics say will open the door for Israel to annex a key area just outside Jerusalem, further undermining the feasibility of a future Palestinian state.

A statement from Netanyahu’s office said said the project is meant to streamline travel for Palestinians in communities near the large Jewish settlement of Maaleh Adumim.

Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlement watchdog group, said the road will divert Palestinian traffic outside of Maaleh Adumim and the surrounding area known as E1, a tract of open land that is deemed essential for the territorial contiguity of a future Palestinian state.

That will make it easier for Israel to annex E1, according to Hagit Ofran, a settlement expert with the group, because Israel can claim that there is no disruption to Palestinian movement. Critics say Israeli settlements and other land grabs make a contiguous future Palestinian state increasingly impossible.

Several roads in the territory are meant for use by either Israelis or Palestinians, which international rights groups say is part of an apartheid system, allegations Israel rejects.

Netanyahu’s office said the decision to pave new roads meant only for Palestinians was based on security considerations that have increased during the war in the Gaza Strip.

Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three for their future state, and a two-state solution is widely seen internationally as the only way to resolve the decades-old conflict.

Jahjouh reported from Khan Younis, Gaza Strip. Associated Press writer Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Muslim worshippers gather for Eid al-Fitr prayer in the mixed Arab Jewish city of Jaffa, near Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Muslim worshippers gather for Eid al-Fitr prayer in the mixed Arab Jewish city of Jaffa, near Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Muslim worshippers gather for Eid al-Fitr prayer in the mixed Arab Jewish city of Jaffa, near Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Muslim worshippers gather for Eid al-Fitr prayer in the mixed Arab Jewish city of Jaffa, near Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Muslim worshippers gather for Eid al-Fitr prayer in the mixed Arab Jewish city of Jaffa, near Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Muslim worshippers offer Eid al-Fitr prayer in the mixed Arab Jewish city of Jaffa, near Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Palestinians attend Eid al-Fitr prayer in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians attend Eid al-Fitr prayer in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians attend Eid al-Fitr prayer in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians attend Eid al-Fitr prayer in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians attend Eid al-Fitr prayer in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip , Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)