Trump Administration Denies That Signal Chat Shared Classified Info

Summary

WSJ What’s News: Trump Administration Denies Sharing Classified Information and Education Department Dismantling

Release Date: March 25, 2025
Host: Alex Osola, Matt Barnum, Teo Francis, Kate King, Annemarie Alcantara

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1. Trump Administration Denies Sharing Classified Information via Signal

The episode opens with a significant development concerning national security. The Trump administration, alongside top intelligence officials Tulsi Gabbard (Director of National Intelligence) and John Ratcliffe (Director of the CIA), has denied allegations that classified information about military strikes in Yemen was shared through a non-governmental Signal chat. Democrats have criticized this as a reckless security breach.

“The chat among senior officials over a pending military strike against Houthi militants didn't include classified information.” — Matt Barnum, WSJ Education Reporter [00:57]

Senators have expressed skepticism about the administration’s claims, questioning the plausibility of the chat being unclassified. Additionally, FBI Director Kash Patel has refrained from commenting on potential investigations into the security protocol violations.

National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, who organized the group chat, has come under scrutiny. President Trump defended Waltz, stating, “Waltz has learned a lesson and he's a good man” [01:20].

2. Dismantling of the Education Department

President Trump has accelerated efforts to dismantle the Department of Education without awaiting congressional approval. This move marks a significant administrative shift, with Matt Barnum providing in-depth analysis:

“The administration has gone after some smaller programs and they've cut the staff in roughly half.” — Matt Barnum [02:42]

Despite maintaining key programs like student loans and funds for low-income districts, the administration has drastically reduced the department's workforce, effectively halving its size.

When questioned about congressional support for abolishing the Education Department, Barnum noted:

“It's an uphill battle. I'm not aware of any Democratic congresspeople... And polls suggest that this is not particularly popular with Americans.” — Matt Barnum [03:26]

The administration has yet to present a detailed plan for reallocating essential programs, which legal experts deem necessary through congressional legislation.

3. Freeze on Federal Family Planning Grants

In a bold administrative move, the Trump administration is freezing approximately $120 million in federal family planning grants. This freeze targets Planned Parenthood affiliates amid investigations into the use of funds for diversity initiatives.

“They are reviewing grant recipients to make sure they comply with President Trump's executive orders.” — Department of Health and Human Services Spokesperson [04:23]

Alexis McGill Johnson, CEO of Planned Parenthood, criticized the administration's actions, asserting that the aim is to shut down their health centers by any means necessary.

4. Economic Indicators: Home Prices and Consumer Sentiment

The podcast transitions to economic news, highlighting two key indicators:

• Home Prices: The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index reported a 4.1% increase in January, indicating a slower acceleration in US home prices.

• Consumer Sentiment: The Conference Board's monthly survey revealed that household sentiment dropped to its lowest in 12 years, a potential recession signal. Despite this, the stock market remained stable:

  • S&P 500: +0.2%
  • Nasdaq: +0.5%
  • Dow Jones: Flat

5. U.S. Brokered Deal Between Russia and Ukraine

In international news, the Trump administration announced a brokered deal aimed at enhancing Russia’s exports of grain and fertilizer to global markets. This agreement is tied to the broader Black Sea initiative intended to reduce the use of force in the region. However, the Kremlin has stipulated that compliance is contingent upon lifting sanctions on major Russian banks involved in the food and fertilizer trade. Ukraine has indicated resistance to weakening these sanctions, complicating the arrangement.

6. Decline in CEO Payouts Over $100 Million

A notable shift in executive compensation has emerged, with fewer CEOs receiving payouts exceeding $100 million for 2024. Teo Francis from WSJ explains the trend:

“We've seen a real decline in the number of those kinds of packages.” — Teo Francis [07:21]

These high-tier compensation packages, previously fueled by ambitious “moonshot” incentives, are now less common. Boards are re-evaluating compensation structures, especially in volatile economic climates, to exclude factors like tax rates and trade conditions that are beyond executives' control.

“Boards are trying to set 2025 pay... it's hard to plan pay targets and performance targets in this kind of environment.” — Teo Francis [08:06]

Despite the reduction in ultra-high payouts, the average CEO pay has increased from the previous year.

7. Forever 21's Bankruptcy and Mall Owners' Reactions

Forever 21 has declared bankruptcy, leading to the closure of all 350 US stores. Surprisingly, mall owners view this as a positive development.

“Mall owners are looking forward to Forever 21 exiting their malls so they can re-lease this space to higher performing tenants.” — Kate King, WSJ Real Estate Reporter [09:31]

Contrary to the narrative of declining malls, top-tier malls are performing well, maintaining high occupancy rates and benefiting from a lack of new mall developments. Consumer spending remains robust, supporting the health of existing malls despite some struggling locations.

“No one is building malls. There's no extra supply coming onto the scene...” — Kate King [10:52]

8. LinkedIn as a Platform for Gen Z and Personal Branding

Shifting focus to social media trends, LinkedIn has become a significant platform for Gen Z users and professionals to build their personal brands. eMarketer projects approximately 23 million Gen Z monthly users on LinkedIn this year.

“Posts that show you know what you're talking about... give you an extra cushion to show I'm good at my job.” — Annemarie Alcantara, WSJ Your Money Briefing Podcast [11:57]

According to Wall Street Journal reporter Annemarie Alcantara, active engagement on LinkedIn, including insightful posts and interactions, can enhance one’s professional reputation and career prospects.

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Conclusion

The episode of WSJ What’s News for March 25, 2025, provided a comprehensive overview of critical developments within the Trump administration, economic indicators, international relations, executive compensation trends, the retail landscape, and evolving social media strategies for professionals. By delving into these topics with expert insights and direct quotes, the podcast offers listeners a detailed understanding of the current events shaping business and political arenas.

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Produced by:
Pierre Bienname, Anthony Banci
Supervising Producer:
Michael Kosmides
Host:
Alex Osola

For more detailed discussions, visit The Wall Street Journal.

Transcript

[Alex Osola]

With the Venmo Debit card, you can turn the spa day that your friends paid you back for into concert tickets that you can earn up to 5% cash back on, where a spa day with the girls becomes concert tickets. Visit Venmo Me Debit to learn more. The Venmo MasterCard is issued by the Bancorp Bank N.A. pursuant to license by MasterCard International, Inc. Terms apply. Dosh Cashback terms apply. The Trump administration denies that a Signal chat shared classified details with a journalist. Plus, President Trump has been dismantling the Education Department well before he signed an executive order.

[Matt Barnum]

Certainly we've seen hollowing out of other agencies to a much more extreme level than at the Education Department, but they have made some dramatic downsizing and they have challenged legal limits and why mall.

[Alex Osola]

Owners are looking forward to Forever 21 closing its doors. It's Tuesday, March 25th. I'm Alex Osola for the Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of what's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today. The White House and two top intelligence officials have denied that classified materials about military strikes in Yemen were shared by officials on a group chat on the non government service Signal. Democrats have denounced the security breach as reckless and dangerous. Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, and John Ratcliffe, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, told Congress today that the chat among senior officials over a pending military strike against Houthi militants didn't include classified information. The claim was challenged by several senators who said it wasn't plausible that the chat could be unclassified. Kash Patel, the Federal Bureau of Investigation director, declined to say if his agency would investigate whether the Signal chat violated security procedures. The disclosure that top administration officials had discussions about the military operation over Signal has also put a spotlight on national security Adviser Mike Waltz, who organized the group thread. Earlier today, President Trump signaled his support for his national security adviser, saying Waltz has learned a lesson and he's a good man. Meanwhile, President Trump has started getting rid of the Education Department and he isn't waiting for Congress's help. Our education reporter Matt Barnum says the administration started dismantling the department even before last week when the president signed an executive order directing education secretary Linda McMahon to facilitate the closure of the federal Department of Education. Matt joins me now with more. So Matt, what exactly is the administration doing?

[Matt Barnum]

What's interesting is that Linda McMahon and the Trump administration have already, even before the executive order, been doing what that order said, which is thinning out various parts of the Education Department. I should say that the administration has said that they're not going to go after the biggest education programs that the most number of people rely on, which includes student loans, money for students with disabilities, money for low income school districts. But they have gone after some smaller programs and they've cut the staff in roughly half. And this was already an agency that was not particularly large. It was actually the smallest cabinet level agency, so it's been cut in half.

[Alex Osola]

Is there enough support in Congress to abolish the Education Department?

[Matt Barnum]

It's an uphill battle. I'm not aware of any Democratic congresspeople in the House or especially the Senate where 60 vote supermajority would be needed. I'm not aware of any Democrat elected officials who support this. And I am aware of some Republicans who are at least skeptical or seem hesit on this. And polls suggest that this is not particularly popular with Americans. Trump recently suggested putting what he described as special needs programs, which I took to mean special education programs at the Department of Health and Human Services in shifting the student loan portfolio to the Small Business Administration. Now, most legal experts seem to think that that would need an act of Congress. The administration hasn't released details on how they would move these programs or a specific plan to work with Congress to do so.

[Alex Osola]

That was WSJ education reporter Matt Barnum. Thank you, Matt.

[Matt Barnum]

Thank you.

[Alex Osola]

And we're exclusively reporting that the Trump administration is moving to freeze tens of millions of dollars in federal family planning grants while it investigates whether the money was used for diversity efforts. That's according to people familiar with the matter. The groups that would be subject to the freeze, which include Planned Parenthood affiliates, were set to get about $120 million this year. A spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services said it was reviewing grant recipients to make sure they comply with President Trump's executive orders. Alexis McGill Johnson, the president and CEO of the planned Parenthood Federation of America, said the administration wants to shut down Planned Parenthood health centers by any means necessary. In economic news, new data out today shows US Home prices accelerated at a slower pace in January. The s & P CoreLogic case Shiller National Home Price Index, which measures home prices across the country, rose 4.1% in the first month of this year. And the Conference Board's key monthly consumer survey has shown that household sentiment fell in March to its lowest point in 12 years at levels that often signal a recession. Markets were seemingly unfazed by this latest report of consumer sentiment as U.S. stocks held steady today. The S&P 500 rose about 0.2%. The Nasdaq ticked up about half a percent, and the Dow ended the day flat. The Trump administration said today that it had agreed to help Russia boost exports of its grain and fertilizer to global markets. The arrangement comes as the White House announced a U.S. brokered deal between Russia and Ukraine to eliminate the use of force in the Black Sea. The Kremlin said that its compliance with the Black Sea agreement was conditional on the lifting of sanctions on major Russian banks involved in the food and fertilizer trade. Ukraine signaled that it wasn't on board with the weakening of sanctions. Coming up, why fewer CEOs are getting payouts that break the $100 million mark. That's after the break. You don't wake up dreaming of McDonald's fries. You wake up dreaming of McDonald's hash browns. McDonald's breakfast comes first. The new boss at Starbucks came pretty close. So did the leaders of Apple and GE. But so far, no CEO has scored a $100 million pay package for 2024. If that holds, it'll be the first time in a decade that no CEO broke nine figures. And yet the average CEO pay was higher last year than the year before. Teo Francis covers executive compensation for the Wall Street Journal. Teo, how did we arrive at this 100 million mark in the recent years?

[Teo Francis]

We'd seen the proliferation of these things that some people call moonshot or swing for the fences pay packages. So you might see 100 million or in some cases 200 million, 250 million in Elon Musk's case, originally $2.3 billion worth of stock in the mix. And if the company and the executive reach certain milestones, then that pay kind of gets unlocked, as it were. That really started picking up steam after Elon Musk's 2018 pay package, which got a lot of attention at the time. And you saw packages that kind of emulated that. What we've seen, though, more recently is a real decline in the number of those kinds of packages.

[Alex Osola]

So what are boards and executives thinking this year will bring in terms of CEO payouts?

[Teo Francis]

You see a lot of different responses, but one of the common ones is that some boards say, you know, our executives are not responsible for setting tax rates. They're not responsible for trade conditions, they're not responsible for economic conditions generally. And so in many cases, boards remove certain kinds of effects from the calculations of performance that lead to executive pay. At this point, that's really hard for boards to do. They're looking at and trying to set 2025 pay. Now, this is kind of the season in which they do it. And I've heard that some boards are trying to figure out whether and how to actually remove those components. The back and forth up and down of the trade war right now. It's really hard to plan in those circumstances. We've heard that from executives talking about running their companies. It's also hard to plan pay targets and performance targets for compensation in that kind of environment.

[Alex Osola]

That was WSJ special writer Teo Francis. Thank you, Teo.

[Teo Francis]

Thank you.

[Alex Osola]

Fast Fashion retailer Forever 21 has declared bankruptcy this month and it's closing all of its 350 or so US stores. One group that's looking forward to that, mall owners. Real estate reporter Kate King joins us now. Kate, why are mall owners excited about Forever 21 stores closing?

[Kate King]

Forever 21 was going out of business for several years and so it wasn't generating a lot of tenant sales which mall owners use to boost rent. And mall owners are just really looking forward in many cases to Forever 21 exiting their malls so they can re lease this space to higher performing tenants.

[Alex Osola]

This implies to me that malls are actually doing well now, which I find surprising given I feel like all I've been hearing for the past few years is like, malls are dead. Malls are dead. So they're not dead.

[Kate King]

Well, a lot of people are surprised to hear that malls are still kicking and in some cases thriving. It's not all malls. We always knew that the very top luxury, what we call trophy malls, would survive and make a lot of money for their owners. But what we found over the past year or so is that more than just these really high end luxury malls are doing pretty well. The top mall owners in this country are reporting that their malls are pretty close to full. But of course, there are many malls across the country that are not doing well and probably won't exist for much longer. To answer your question, malls aren't back to the same level of foot traffic they saw before the pandemic. But the malls that are doing well in terms of occupancy, leasing, rent growth, they are doing quite well right now.

[Alex Osola]

I'm curious what's driving this?

[Kate King]

A really big reason that the top malls are doing so well right now is because no one is building malls. There's no extra supply coming onto the scene to steal foot traffic and shopper interest from existing properties. And at the same time, most small owners are reporting and most retail owners are reporting that consumer spending remains quite strong and resilient despite all these economic headwinds we're hearing about that was WSJ.

[Alex Osola]

Real estate reporter Kate King. Thank you, Kate.

[Kate King]

Thank you.

[Alex Osola]

And finally, TikTok and Instagram aren't the only platforms where aspiring influencers can find a following. What about LinkedIn? The research firm eMarketer expects there to be about 23 million Gen Z monthly users on the site this year. And they're not just on there looking for jobs. They want to talk about it. The platform is seeing more punchy personal videos on how to make it in the professional world. But as Wall Street Journal reporter Annemarie Alcantara told our your Money Briefing podcast, even non influencers can benefit from posting insights on LinkedIn.

[Annemarie Alcantara]

The job market is what it is right now. It's a little bit difficult for many people. And so in building a personal brand, you still have your regular resume on LinkedIn, but now you also have all these posts that show you know what you're talking about. Maybe you're engaging with people in the comments, having a back and forth. It just sort of gives you an extra cushion to show I'm good at my job and I'm also good at talking about it and teaching people and hopefully executing a good plan for you in the new job that you may want to have.

[Alex Osola]

You can hear more about what you can learn from LinkedIn influencers to boost your brand online in our your Money Briefing podcast. We'll leave a link in the show notes and that's what's news for this Tuesday afternoon. Today's show is produced by Pierre Bienname and Anthony Banci with supervising producer Michael Kosmides. I'm Alex Osola. The Wall Street Journal we'll be back with a new show tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening.