Hegseth in turmoil, Trump’s sinking polls

Post Reports

The Washington Post

Daily News, Politics, News

4.4 • 5.1K Ratings

🗓️ 25 April 2025

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Senior politics reporter Aaron Blake talks with The Washington Post’s chief correspondent covering national politics, Dan Balz, and national security reporter Abigail Hauslohner about new reporting this week about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Hegseth’s continued use of Signal, an unclassified messaging app, to share highly sensitive information has roiled the agency he oversees. They also unpack new polling that shows warning signs for Trump: public support for his legally dubious immigration policies have turned negative.

Today’s show was produced by Laura Benshoff with help from Rennie Svirnovskiy. It was edited by Lucy Perkins and mixed by Sean Carter.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	So guys, I think if we learned anything this week, it's that defense secretary Pete Hegseth likes the app signal.
0:11.9	Guys, we'll talk a little bit later about the problems with this, but I just wondered, is there an app that you have this kind of devotion to that you would go to such lengths to make sure that
0:22.0	you have at all times?
0:23.8	Duolingo would like me to have that kind of devotion.
0:26.8	They really harass me.
0:28.5	I mean, I think this is an internet meme.
0:30.4	They harass everyone.
0:31.4	They make you feel really guilty for not practicing Spanish.
0:35.4	But I...
0:36.3	Can you just turn off the notifications? You know, you probably can, but I have not. Okay. But I... Can you just turn off the notifications?
0:38.4	You know, you probably can, but I have not.
0:41.0	Okay.
0:41.3	Just a recommendation.
0:42.4	You could do that.
0:43.0	Yeah.
0:43.7	Maybe there's some weird self-conscious sort of punishment going on there.
0:48.3	But in short, no, I can't imagine being that devoted to an app.
0:53.0	Dan, what do you think?
0:56.0	Aren't we supposed to say Washington Post?
0:59.7	The Washington Post app is a great app, and I hope that people are also addicted to that.
1:00.2	Dan wins.
1:08.0	From the newsroom of the Washington Post.
	...

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