Signal App Is Pre-Installed on Government Devices, Gabbard Testifies

Testifying before the Senate, Gabbard noted a 2024 U.S. cybersecurity guidance recommending government officials use encrypted messaging apps like Signal.

(L-R) FBI Director, Kash Patel; Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard; and CIA Director, John Ratcliffe, testify before a House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on March 26, 2025. Drew Angerer/AFP via Getty Images

As Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard faced a second day of questioning regarding a leaked Trump administration text conversation about military strikes in Yemen, she testified that the Signal messaging app used in the chat “comes pre-installed on government devices.”

Lawmakers have raised questions about the Signal app after The Atlantic’s Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg reported that he was inadvertently added to a text conversation among high-level Trump administration officials, in which they discussed U.S. plans to strike targets in Yemen. Throughout his initial March 24 article, Goldberg raised concerns that the top Trump administration officials had discussed sensitive operational details while appearing unaware that he had been looped into the conversation.