Thursday Briefing

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Newly released Signal texts showed what was at stake

More messages were published yesterday from a Signal group chat between President Trump’s top security officials that laid out plans to strike Houthi targets in Yemen and that inadvertently included the editor in chief of The Atlantic. Read the annotated chat.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Trump dismissed concerns about the leak as a “witch hunt,” and he suggested that the messaging app was at fault for the journalist’s inclusion.

Democrats have called for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to step down, saying he had behaved recklessly by revealing the precise timing of the strikes on Houthi targets and could have endangered American troops. He has not apologized, insisting instead that the information shared in the chat was not “war plans.”

Technically, the exchanges did not include war plans, according to David Sanger, our White House correspondent who covers national security. But Hegseth’s descriptions were so detailed that the distinction may not have mattered, he added.

“Had the chat leaked,” David said, “it could have given advance warning to the Houthis, who could have simply left the site and defeated the mission. They could have also prepared to launch against the planes, which would have put the pilots’ lives at risk.” (Read more about what makes information classified, and what a “war plan” really means.)

Listen: The Atlantic journalist told The Daily what it was like to accidentally be included in the infamous group chat.

Trade war: Trump said that he would impose a 25 percent tariffs on all cars and certain automobile parts that are shipped into the U.S. Here’s how the measures could affect Europe. They will disrupt supply chains and most likely increase prices for American consumers significantly — and they could also have benefits for Tesla.

More on the Trump administration

• The Trump administration intends to end U.S. support for Gavi, the organization that has helped purchase vaccines for children in developing countries.

• A growing number of travelers are rethinking plans to visit the U.S. Many say they feel unwelcome or unsafe.

• A federal appeals court kept in place, for now, a block on the Trump administration’s use of a rarely invoked wartime statute to summarily deport Venezuelan migrants.

• The heads of PBS and NPR, the biggest public media networks in the U.S., defended their funding during a congressional hearing.

• Trump raised the possibility that he could relax upcoming tariffs on China in exchange for the country’s support on a deal to sell TikTok to a new owner supported by the U.S.

• The director of Voice of America, along with its journalists, sued the Trump administration over its attempt to shut down the network.

• Is Melania Trump’s 2005 Dior wedding dress really for sale on eBay?

• Track Trump’s actions since he took office.

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Cease-fire talks are helping Russia buy time

Conflicting statements from Russia, the U.S. and Ukraine this week on the state of cease-fire negotiations are the latest sign of a chaotic process in which, analysts and experts said, the Kremlin appears to be playing for time and getting the upper hand.

Deals for a truce in the Black Sea and to halt strikes on energy targets for 30 days both benefit Moscow more than Kyiv. And even President Trump has acknowledged that Russia may be intentionally stalling talks to further its own ends.

Analysis: “There are a lot of doubts about whether Russia is seriously engaging in the talks or just running the clock,” said my colleague Paul Sonne, who covers Russia. “Judging by the statements that came out this week, there was very little that could be seen as a gain for Ukraine,” he added.

The view from Europe: Despite projecting unity, leaders are struggling to find the money to replace the bulk of the U.S. contribution to Ukraine and build up their own defense.

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Turkey’s opposition called for a mass rally

The opposition in Turkey called for a mass demonstration to protest the jailing of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main rival last week, as well as for a boycott of companies said to support the president.

The arrest has set off nightly demonstrations that have drawn hundreds of thousands of antigovernment protesters to the streets of Istanbul and other cities, prompting a government crackdown. More than 1,300 people have been arrested in recent days in connection with the demonstrations, the Interior Ministry said, including 11 journalists.

Go deeper: “There’s a lot of anger about what people feel is a shift toward autocracy,” Ben Hubbard, our Istanbul bureau chief, said. Hear his analysis.

MORE TOP NEWS

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• Sudan: The Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group, withdrew in large numbers from the capital they had occupied since civil war broke out nearly two years ago.

• Weather: At least 24 people have died and dozens have been injured in devastating wildfires in South Korea that an official said may break records.

• Brazil: The Supreme Court ordered Jair Bolsonaro, the former president, to face trial for trying to stage a coup.

• Gaza: Hundreds of Palestinians held a second day of protests against Hamas.

• Israel: The new budget approved by Parliament cements the power of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and signals that the country expects to stay on a war footing.

• South Korea: A commission revealed that adoption agencies committed malpractices in a rush to send children to American and European homes decades ago.

• India: Many U.S. companies are on a hiring spree in the country and building hundreds of overseas office parks.

• Crime: Heart-shaped notes were hidden in the packaging of socks delivered to Luigi Mangione ahead of his court appearance last month, prosecutors said.

• Japan: Masaki Kashiwara received this year’s Abel Prize, often regarded as the Nobel Prize of mathematics.

• Lithuania: The U.S. military located a vehicle used by four U.S. Army soldiers who went missing while on a training mission near Belarus. The soldiers were not found.

From the United Kingdom

• Budget: The government laid out plans for higher military spending and cuts to social benefits.

• Universities: British authorities issued a record fine against the University of Sussex for issues related to a policy statement on transgender equality.

• Heathrow: Installing backup generators to avoid another major power loss at the country’s largest airport could cost $100 million and take years to complete.

• Royals: Prince Harry resigned as the patron of a charity he founded in southern Africa, following a clash between the board of trustees and its chair.

SPORTS NEWS

• Figure skating: In 1961, a plane crash devastated the Skating Club of Boston. Two months ago, it happened again — leaving members, once again, skating through their grief.

• Soccer: FIFA Club World Cup winners will receive an eye-watering $125 million in prize money for this summer’s tournament.

• Tennis: After two decades of excellence, Novak Djokovic is still something of a mystery — to tennis fans and to himself.

• Formula 1: Red Bull Racing’s Liam Lawson looks set to be replaced after just two races.

MORNING READ

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For the residents of the Solomon Islands, ever-shrinking specks of land in the South Pacific, dolphin hunting is a sacred tradition with greater financial prospects than any other economic activity on the island.

As sea levels rise, and people eye a move to higher ground to secure their future, many say they see little alternative. “We feel sorry, too, for killing the dolphins,” one hunter said. “But we don’t really have a choice.”

Lives lived: Oleg Gordievsky, who was the top K.G.B. agent in London until he defected and became a double agent for British intelligence, died at 86.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

• Holiday treat: Marook, a sweet bread eaten during Ramadan in Syria, has gotten some updates.

• Bad angle: A portrait of President Trump that he despises was swiftly removed from the Colorado Capitol. Who painted it?

• Your brain on retirement: Keep your mind sharp through this major transition.

• A great Romantic: A new A.I. project explores the mysteries of Eugène Delacroix.

ARTS AND IDEAS

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A K-pop David-and-Goliath story

The five-member girl group NewJeans, K-pop’s most imaginative group of the last three years, seemed invincible. But now its members are locked in a legal battle against their powerhouse label over their contract and their desire to change the group’s name.

They were recently forced to take the stage as NewJeans, but their song and wardrobe choices seemed intended to project defiance. Before the show ended, they announced an effective hiatus until legal issues were resolved. That NewJeans members spoke out on their own behalf was a rare act of boldness in the K-pop world. It might cost them their ability to perform.

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