The Headlines - Secret War Plans Shared in Group Chat, and U.S. Food Banks Scramble

Episode Date: March 25, 2025

Plus, why you might develop allergies as an adult.On Today’s Episode:Hegseth Disclosed Secret War Plans in a Group Chat, by Helene Cooper and Eric SchmittColumbia Student Hunted by ICE Sues to Prevent Deportation, by Jonah E. Bromwich and Hamed AleazizFood Banks Left in the Lurch as Some Shipments Are Suspended, by Karoun Demirjian and Jesus JiménezFederal Agency Dedicated to Mental Illness and Addiction Faces Huge Cuts, by Jan HoffmanA Palestinian Director of ‘No Other Land’ Is Attacked and Detained, Witnesses Say, by Ephrat Livni and Rawan Sheikh AhmadHeadache? Fatigue? You Could Have Your First Case of Seasonal Allergies, by Mohana RavindranathTune in every weekday morning. To get our full audio journalism and storytelling experience, download the New York Times Audio app — available to Times news subscribers on iOS — and sign up for our weekly newsletter.Tell us what you think at: [e-mail]. 

From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Tuesday, March 25th. Here's what we're covering. A serious leak of secret U.S. war plans has rattled Washington. On Monday, the White House confirmed that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared sensitive military information in a group chat that mistakenly included a journalist. The chat on the encrypted messaging app Signal contained operational details on military strikes the U.S. was planning against Houthi rebels in Yemen. Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and other high-level officials were all in the chat. But so was Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic.

Yesterday, Goldberg published an article describing how he'd been added to the chat, apparently by accident, by National Security Advisor Michael Waltz. He said at first he thought it was a fake thread or someone trying to trick him. But as he watched the messages roll in over the course of a few days, he realized he was watching the Trump administration debate in real time whether they should strike the Houthis. Once they decided to move forward, Hegseth shared highly sensitive information in the chat about how the mission would be carried out, hours before the U.S. struck multiple targets in Yemen. Goldberg laid out the timeline, including portions of the texts, in his story, which went up yesterday afternoon. I was over at the Pentagon and people's heads were just exploding. They just couldn't believe

that Mr. Hegseth, the defense secretary, had put such descriptions of upcoming strikes, the kinds of weapons that would be used, the timing for this, where the strikes would take place, all in some chat group. Revealing operational war plans before they actually happened could have also put American troops directly into harm's way. Eric Schmidt covers national security for the Times. The big thing to know here is not only was a journalist, Mr. Goldberg, inadvertently included in the group chat. But the conversation also took place outside of the secure government channels that would normally be used for classified and highly sensitive war planning. This breach may reflect the inexperience of this national security

team in coordinating and speaking about very serious military operations. We don't know exactly the consequences of this yet. We don't know exactly the consequences of this yet. We don't know if there perhaps were other conversations that were also carried out on signal, which could be exposed to hacking by American adversaries. When asked about the group chat by reporters, Hegseth said, quote, nobody was texting war plans. The White House, meanwhile, acknowledged

that the chat existed and defended it, calling it a quote, demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials. The incident could trigger a congressional investigation, and several Defense Department officials told the Times that having this type of classified conversation in a non-official channel could be a violation of the Espionage Act, a law covering the handling of sensitive information. In New York, immigration officials are trying to arrest and potentially deport another Columbia student over her participation in pro-Palestinian protests on campus. Yeon Soo Chung is a junior at the school.

She moved to the U.S. from South Korea when she was seven and is a legal permanent resident. But the Trump administration is arguing that her presence in the U.S. hinders its foreign policy goal of halting the spread of anti-Semitism. It's the same rationale that was cited in the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia grad and permanent US resident who's currently being held in Louisiana. ICE officials have visited several locations looking for Chung, including her parents' house, and they searched her housing on campus earlier this month. Her lawyers say she's still in the country but wouldn't comment on her whereabouts.

Yesterday, she sued President Trump and other high-ranking administration officials, asking a judge to bar the government from detaining or deporting her. Her suit also asked the judge to bar the government from trying to deport any other non-citizens based on speaking out at protests. The government's pursuit of Chung underscores how the Trump administration is prioritizing the detention of pro-Palestinian demonstrators and how it's opened a new front

in its targeting of immigrants by going after people who are in the country legally. Two months into President Trump's second term, the impact of many of his administration's drastic firings and budget cuts are reverberating across the country. Here's two updates on how some of those cuts are playing out on the ground. The Times has learned that food banks have been scrambling after multiple programs that help keep them running have been abruptly paused or eliminated. Food bank officials say they were counting on hundreds of truckloads of food that have now been suspended, everything from milk and cheese deliveries in New Mexico to chicken and vegetables that were slated for Maryland.

The officials say rural areas where food insecurity is particularly high will be the hardest hit. And... The federal agency that has largely spearheaded the government's interventions for drug addiction and mental illness is now facing drastic cuts. My colleague health reporter Jan Hoffman has been covering the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the agency that runs the National Crisis Hotline and supports clinics that run opioid addiction treatment programs. She says it's gone from having 10 national offices to just four, and that huge reductions in its staff and operations could be coming.

Cutting that staff and potentially the billions of dollars the staff administers throughout the country could lead to a surge in relapse rates, a strain on the health care system, and poor health outcomes overall. In the West Bank, the Palestinian director of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land was beaten near his home by Israeli settlers and then detained, according to witnesses. One witness told the Times that at least 20 masked people descended on a village in the West Bank last night and assaulted the residents there

as they were breaking their fast for Ramadan. The director, Hamdan Bilal, was attacked with rocks, sticks, and knives. Israeli forces then responded and detained Bilal. A statement from the Israeli military said it was holding several Palestinians suspected of hurling rocks. Bilal's film, which he co-directed with three others, documents the demolition of homes in the West Bank by Israeli forces. No other land took the top documentary prize at this year's Oscars. But despite that and a string of good reviews, no US distributor picked it up, potentially because of how politically charged the topic is, making it nearly impossible for Americans to see the film.

And finally, it's the first full week of spring. Cue the green leaves and the flowers and the pollen. People who suffer from seasonal allergies know this time of year as the beginning of Kleenex season. But some adults who've never had a problem before may find that they're sneezing and sniffling too. That's because you can develop allergies as an adult. One allergy researcher told The Times that while people tend to think of allergies as something you have from the time you're a kid, it's actually very common to develop them in your 20s, 30s, and 40s. Scientists aren't sure exactly why that happens, but there are a couple potential causes.

For one, climate change is causing allergy season to start earlier and last longer, which could make people more prone to developing symptoms. Climate change is causing allergy season to start earlier and last longer, which could make people more prone to developing symptoms. Another reason? Some infections, like colds, can compromise and change your body's response to allergens. Also, living in the same place for a long time can factor in. Prolonged exposure to the same irritants like pollen can increase the risk of allergies. To be clear, not every runny nose means you have allergies.

You'll need more than a few sneezes to know for sure. But if you are just entering the allergy club, you are not alone. An estimated one in four adults in the U.S. suffers from seasonal allergies. Those are the headlines. Today on The Daily, Times reporter Jim Rutenberg explains how President Trump is taking on the media in a way no American president ever has before. He's been making it increasingly clear. He wants it entirely, either out of his way or solely serving his interests. That's next in the New York Times audio app,

or you can listen wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow.