ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕣𝕟 𝕘𝕣𝕠𝕨𝕤 𝕒𝕤 𝕋𝕣𝕦𝕞𝕡 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕝𝕪 𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕤 𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕠𝕦𝕔𝕙

ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕤 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣 ℙ𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝔻𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝𝕕 𝕋𝕣𝕦𝕞𝕡’𝕤 𝕒𝕓𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪, 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕤, 𝕠𝕣 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕚𝕟 𝕖𝕟𝕘𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕤𝕤𝕦𝕖𝕤 𝕗𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕪, 𝕒𝕤 𝕙𝕖 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕝𝕪—𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕔𝕒𝕤𝕦𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪—𝕒𝕕𝕞𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕦𝕟𝕒𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕔𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝 𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤.

H

is repeated declarations of ignorance, often delivered without hesitation or concern, have deepened alarm among critics who warn of a dangerous void in informed leadership in the Oval Office.

Late Wednesday afternoon, a reporter asked President Trump, “Have you been briefed about the soldiers in Lithuania? 

Who are missing?” The Commander-in-Chief, appearing both uninformed and unconcerned, simply replied, 

“No I haven’t.” And moved on to take a question from another reporter.

The four soldiers went missing on Tuesday during a training mission in Lithuania, near the border of Belarus, a staunch ally of Russia. 

On Wednesday, as Axios reported, their Hercules armored vehicle was found submerged. Hours before Trump was asked, NATO and numerous media outlets had reported the soldiers were dead, only to walk that back later. 

They currently remain missing. But President Trump said he was unaware of any of this.

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RELATED:

𝕋𝕣𝕦𝕞𝕡𝕤 𝕗𝕒𝕧𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕒𝕓𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕣𝕖𝕞𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕣𝕠𝕔𝕜𝕪

𝕌𝕊 𝕣𝕖𝕧𝕠𝕜𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕖𝕞𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕣𝕪 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕙𝕒𝕝𝕗 𝕒 𝕞𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕞𝕚𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕤

ℕ𝕖𝕨𝕝𝕪 𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕁𝔽𝕂 𝕗𝕚𝕝𝕖𝕤 𝕕𝕠 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕙𝕖𝕕 𝕟𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟.

𝔻𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕟 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕋𝕣𝕦𝕞𝕡𝕤 𝕕𝕖𝕤𝕚𝕣𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣 ℂ𝕒𝕟𝕒𝕕𝕒 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕟𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕

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“Is Trump just totally out of the loop?” asked journalist Matthew Yglesias. 

“Why wasn’t he briefed on the soldiers in Lithuania?”Declaring President Trump “clueless” on “basic intel,” The New Republic on Thursday morning noted that “the armymen were known to be missing as early as Tuesday at 4:45 p.m., the Lithuanian military said, so why Trump was still unaware of the situation more than 24 hours later is unclear.” 

 Also Wednesday afternoon, President Trump was asked about his Secretary of Defense’s involvement in Signalgate. 

Pete Hegseth has been identified as the one who shared classified information in an insecure channel—seen as the greatest violation within the entire scandal. 

But the President appeared unaware of his Defense Secretary’s role in the massive nation security breach when asked by a reporter.

“Hegseth is doing a great job. He had nothing to do this. Hegseth? How do you bring Hegseth into it? 

He had nothing to do with it. Look, it’s all a witch hunt,” Trump told the reporter. He then went on to try to blame Signal, saying he thought it could be “defective.” 

 Attorney and former Biden White House senior presidential speechwriter Dan Cluchey, responded to the video of Trump’s remarks on Hegseth and Signal. 

 “This is stronger evidence of cognitive decline than anything Joe Biden has ever said in his life, ever,” he wrote, and warned: “Something tells me the press will breeze right past it.”

‘No adult supervision’: Concern grows as Trump increasingly appears out of touch https://t.co/x2oTyUoOM6

— Veronica Glamis Aotearoa💃💃💃💃 (@VeronicaGlamis) March 29, 2025

Journalist James Surowiecki observed, Trump is “so checked out of his job that he doesn’t even know Hegseth needlessly disclosed the weapons packages and times of the attack on the Houthis.” 

 On Monday, Trump had told reporters when asked about the Signal scandal, “I don’t know anything about it.” 

Appearing as if he had not been briefed, he then asked a reporter for more information about it.

“Trump initially told reporters he was not aware that the highly sensitive information had been shared, 2 1/2 hours after it was reported. He later appeared to joke about the breach,” the Associated Press reported. 

 The Signal texts that The Atlantic had published also reveal the President’s apparent lack of awareness, on numerous fronts. On Wednesday, asked by a reporter if he believed the information shared in the Signal chat was not classified, the Commander-in-Chief told reporters, “That’s what I’ve heard. I don’t know. 

I’m not sure, you have to ask the various people involved.”The White House has repeatedly insisted it was not classified, but countless experts, including lawmakers, say it was classified. Vice President J.D. Vance in the texts says, “I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this [military strike] is with his message on Europe right now.” 

 The Washington Post, citing a person with knowledge of Vance’s intentions, reported on Wednesday that “Vance wanted to ensure that Trump had been given all the facts about the potential attack, including that European nations stood to benefit more from it than the U.S.” 

That would suggest the Commander-in-Chief was not aware of “all the facts.”Also of concern is that the 18 participants in the Signal chat appeared to be unsure of the President’s directive.  

Calling him “President Bystander,” MSNBC’s Steve Benen writes, “Trump appears out of the loop in his own White House.” Pointing to the Signal texts, Benen says one text “chain featured the White House’s Stephen Miller adding, in apparent reference to the attack plan, ‘As I heard it, the president was clear: green light.'” 

 “The problems should be obvious,” Benen added. “Vance was uncertain about Trump’s knowledge of the relevant details, and one of the president’s right-hand loyalists added an ‘as I heard it’ qualifier to the commander in chief’s directive about a deadly military operation abroad.”

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Additional Reading:

𝕋𝕣𝕦𝕞𝕡𝕤 𝕞𝕚𝕤𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕒𝕘𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕕𝕣𝕚𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕠𝕞𝕪 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕠 𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟

𝕋𝕣𝕦𝕞𝕡 𝕙𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕖𝕔𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕌𝕊

𝔸𝕟𝕒𝕝𝕪𝕤𝕚𝕤: 𝕋𝕣𝕦𝕞𝕡𝕤 𝕕𝕖𝕤𝕚𝕣𝕖𝕕 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕦𝕝𝕥 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕗𝕗𝕤

𝕋𝕣𝕦𝕞𝕡’𝕤 𝔸𝕡𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕧𝕒𝕝 ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝔾𝕠𝕖𝕤 𝕌𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕨𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕣

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The Commander-in-Chief appears to have been uninvolved in important portions of the planning of the military strike. 

Based on the Signal texts, it appears likely that he was absent from key portions of the decision making process. 

 Jared Ryan Sears, who writes The Pragmatic Humanist, offered this observation. 

 “Trump didn’t know about the Signal group chat or that a reporter was included. 

Trump says he didn’t sign the authorization to use the Enemy Alien Act to deport people without due process. 

His signature was on the document. Trump didn’t know that US service members went missing during a training exercise in Lithuania,” he noted. 

“What kind of leader knows nothing about what his administration is doing, what he himself is doing, and what is happening with the military he is in charge of?”Attorney, Republican, and former U.S. Representative Barbara Comstock on Wednesday shared her concerns via social media. 

 “There is no adult supervision at the White House. Grandpa does not know what is going on except on the Golf Channel or if someone takes a bad picture of him. 

Where’s Melania? Does he have a COS or caretaker?”

𝑅𝒶𝓌𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓇𝓎

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