Trump Officials Ran Auto-Deleting Signal Groups Named for Top Titles

The released screenshots document 13 previously unreported Signal groups active in the first half of 2025. One group titled “SS/APNSA,SD,CJCS” carried an eight-hour deletion timer; two others defaulted to one-week deletion and included the vice president and multiple cabinet secretaries. Group names such as “Iran/Ukraine Planning” and “State USAID” indicate the topics discussed. Rubio added the acting national security adviser role to his portfolio weeks after the prior Goldberg incident drew public attention to the platform.

These records originated from phones belonging to Rubio and his counselor Mike Needham in response to Democracy Forward litigation. DoD spokesperson statements confirm Caine used Signal only for administrative coordination and not classified material, yet no parallel preservation mechanism for the disappearing messages has been produced. The Federal Records Act requires agencies to capture substantive communications regardless of platform.

The pattern extends beyond isolated operational lapses. After the March 2025 war-plans episode, the president publicly discouraged Signal use; ten days later the same officials continued on the app with deletion timers enabled. Institutional incentives favor real-time coordination that leaves no retrievable trail, especially when participants hold overlapping titles and direct access to both State and Defense equities.

NARA has received a formal request to open enforcement proceedings. Any resulting order will test whether agencies can continue treating ephemeral messaging as outside record-keeping obligations when the participants are the heads of cabinet departments.