March 25, 2025
Yemen Signal Chat Misfire, Ukraine Russia Progress, Trump Pardons Devon Archer
• National Security Advisor Mike Waltz accidentally added The Atlantic's editor-in-chief to a sensitive signal chat about Yemen airstrikes
• Leaked messages revealed Vice President Vance's reservations about the operation's timing and messaging
• Trump dismisses the mishap as "the only glitch in two months" and stands by Waltz despite calls for his resignation
• US brokers separate maritime and energy ceasefire deals between Russia and Ukraine lasting 30 days
• Both sides already questioning the other's commitment with accusations of manipulation and demands for guarantees
• Agreement includes potential sanctions relief for Russia, particularly affecting agricultural exports
• President Trump pardons Devin Archer, Hunter Biden's former business partner who was convicted of defrauding a Native American tribe
• Archer provided key testimony to House Republicans investigating Biden family business dealings
The Trump administration faces multiple simultaneous challenges from serious signal security breaches to delicate international ceasefires, while exercising controversial pardon powers that tie into long-running political investigations.
Source Credits:
https://nypost.com/2025/03/25/us-news/trump-says-national-security-adviser-mike-waltz-has-learned-a-lesson-after-yemen-attack-leak-glitch/ https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-us-are-studying-outcome-talks-ukraine-riyadh-kremlin-says-2025-03-25/ https://nypost.com/2025/03/25/us-news/trump-signs-pardon-for-ex-hunter-biden-business-partner-devon-archer/
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Chapters
00:00 - Episode Introduction
01:34 - NSA Waltz's Signal Chat Mishap
04:09 - Inside the Leaked Houthi Operations Chat
06:49 - Russia-Ukraine Maritime & Energy Ceasefires
09:51 - Ceasefire Implementation Challenges
12:15 - Trump Pardons Hunter Biden's Former Partner
15:02 - Episode Closing & Show Information
Transcript
WEBVTT
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Hello America.
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Joc here with your ranting politics headline updates, where we are diving into today's most explosive political stories that you need to know about Coming up.
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In today's episode we've got a national security advisor who needs to check his contact list.
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President Trump is standing by Mike Waltz after he accidentally added a journalist to a signal chat about bombing Yemen.
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Oops, we'll dive into how the Atlantic's editor-in-chief got a front row seat to some sensitive discussions.
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Then, breaking news on the international front as the US brokers maritime and energy ceasefire deals between Russia and Ukraine.
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Both sides are playing nice for now, but there's plenty of finger pointing about who's actually going to follow through.
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We'll get into the details of what this means for the ongoing conflict.
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And finally, presidential pardon power in action as Trump signs clemency for Devin Archer Hunter, biden's former business partner.
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The president says Archer was treated very unfairly after his conviction for defrauding a Native American tribe.
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Coincidentally, archer has been quite helpful to Republicans investigating the Biden family business.
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Stick around for all this and more in your daily dose of unfiltered news and common sense commentary.
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This is Ranting Politics Headline Updates.
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President Trump is standing firmly behind his national security advisor, mike Waltz, despite what some are calling a major security faux pas.
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According to reporting from the New York Post, waltz accidentally added Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of the Atlantic magazine, to a Signal Group chat called Houthi PC Small Group that included high-level discussions about striking Houthi targets in Yemen.
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In a brief interview with NBC News on Tuesday, trump dismissed concerns about the mishap, saying Michael Waltz has learned a lesson and he's a good man.
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The president insisted that Goldberg's unexpected presence in the chat had no impact at all on the March 15th airstrikes, which he described as perfectly successful.
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Trump characterized the incident as the only glitch in two months of his administration, adding that it turned out not to be a serious one.
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This statement appears to pour cold water on the swirling speculation that Waltz might lose his job over the error.
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White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt also downplayed the severity of the incident, releasing a statement emphasizing that no war plans or classified documents were shared in the Signal Channel.
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Leavitt noted that the White House Counsel's Office has provided guidance on a number of different platforms for President Trump's top officials to communicate as safely and efficiently as possible, but not everyone in Washington is so forgiving.
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Senator Mark Warner, the Democratic Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called for both Waltz and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to resign.
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Tweeting that when the stakes are this high, incompetence is not an option.
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The most likely explanation for the mix-up Goldberg's signal profile name, jg, is the same as US Trade Representative Jameson Greer, who frequently attends National Security Council meetings A case of mistaken identity that gave a journalist unexpected access to deliberations involving Vice President JD Vance, defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
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For those keeping score at home, this marks another chapter in Trump's sometimes tumultuous relationships with his national security advisors.
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During his first term, the president went through four permanent national security advisors in four years.
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For now, at least, it appears Waltz will avoid becoming the fifth casualty of that particular position.
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Let's dive deeper into this signal chat fiasco that has Washington buzzing.
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Dive deeper into this Signal chat fiasco that has Washington buzzing.
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According to Goldberg's bombshell revelation in the Atlantic, he was connected with National Security Advisor Mike Waltz on Signal on March 11th before being added to the Houthi PC small group chat just two days later.
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The timing couldn't have been more sensitive, as this occurred right before the administration launched significant airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.
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When Goldberg appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe, he struggled to explain exactly how he ended up in Waltz's contacts.
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I don't know Mike Waltz.
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I think I've met him twice.
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I think I met him at a conference or a party four or five years ago, goldberg said, seeming genuinely puzzled by the situation.
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He added it struck me as somewhat unusual because we all, and I in particular, have a somewhat contentious relationship with some people in the Trump administration, namely Trump.
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Perhaps the most revealing aspect of this mishap was what the chat messages actually contained.
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They showed Vice President JD Vance expressing significant reservations about the planned Houthi operation, even appearing to disagree with President Trump's approach.
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Vance pointed out that while only 3% of US trade runs through the Suez Canal, 40% of European trade does, suggesting the American public might not understand why the operation was necessary.
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Vance went even further, stating I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now.
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He raised concerns about potential oil price spikes, but ultimately offered to support the consensus of the team and keep these concerns to myself.
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Vance suggested a possible alternative delaying this a month, doing the messaging work on why this matters, seeing where the economy is, etc.
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Despite Senator Warner's calls for resignations, trump administration sources are characterizing these demands quite differently.
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One insider told the New York Post that Trump knows not to give an inch to left-wing radicals.
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They just want a scalp, and if he gives them his NSA, they'll just move on to his cabinet.
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Within the White House, however, the situation may not be as settled as Trump's public comments suggest.
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One source indicated that Waltz was getting heat over the incident and that his job status remains an open question among staffers.
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Obviously, this is forcing him to answer for what happened.
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The source noted suggesting the National Security Advisor isn't entirely out of the woods yet.
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For an administration that prides itself on message discipline and loyalty, having these internal disagreements about military operations leaked to a magazine editor represents exactly the kind of unforced error Trump has historically had little patience for.
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Whether this turns out to be a temporary embarrassment or something more consequential remains to be seen.
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In a major diplomatic breakthrough, the United States has successfully brokered separate ceasefire agreements between Russia and Ukraine, focusing specifically on halting attacks at sea and against energy infrastructure.
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According to Reuters reporting, these deals represent the first formal commitments between the warring nations since President Trump returned to the White House.
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The agreements, finalized Tuesday after parallel talks in Saudi Arabia, came following separate phone calls between Trump and President Zelensky and Putin last week.
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While Trump had initially proposed a comprehensive 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine supported, putin rejected that broader proposal.
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Despite this setback, the administration pivoted to secure these more limited but still significant agreements.
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Under the setback, the administration pivoted to secure these more limited but still significant agreements.
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Under the terms reached, both sides have agreed to pause attacks on energy facilities for 30 days retroactively, starting from March 18th, the date when Putin first discussed the possibility with Trump.
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This addresses a critical aspect of the conflict, as Russia has consistently targeted Ukraine's power grid throughout the war, while Ukraine has recently ramped up long-range strikes on Russian oil and gas infrastructure.
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The maritime truce is particularly meaningful given the history of Russia's naval blockade early in the war, which severely disrupted global food supplies.
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Even though Ukraine had managed to resume exports at pre-war levels, despite the collapse of a previous UN-brokered agreement, its ports have remained under regular air attack.
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President Zelensky specifically noted that the new agreement would prohibit such strikes.
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Perhaps most controversial is the American commitment to help lift some sanctions against Russia, particularly those affecting agricultural exports.
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According to the Kremlin, the deal includes pushing for restored links between Russia's agricultural export bank and the SWIFT international payment system, a step that would require cooperation from European countries.
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The agreements already face implementation challenges, with both sides expressing deep skepticism about the other's commitment.
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Zelensky claims the deals take immediate effect, but accused Russia of already attempting to manipulate and distort the agreements.
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Meanwhile, russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov demanded clear guarantees, saying Moscow would only trust an order from Washington.
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To Zelensky and his team, ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umarov established a clear red line, stating that any movement of Russian military vessels outside the Eastern Black Sea would constitute a violation and trigger Ukraine's right to self-defense.
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For his part, zelensky warned that Russian violations would prompt requests for additional sanctions and weapons from the Trump administration.
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The deals highlight Trump's aggressive push to fulfill his campaign promise of quickly ending the Ukraine conflict while pursuing closer ties with Moscow, a strategy raising concerns among Ukraine's European allies, who fear hasty concessions at Kiev's expense.
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The ink is barely dry on these ceasefire agreements, and already both sides are treating them with the diplomatic equivalent of side-eye.
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Neither Russia nor Ukraine appears particularly convinced the other will honor their commitments, setting the stage for what could be a very fragile peace.
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Ukraine's President Zelensky didn't mince words, accusing Russia of immediately trying to muddy the waters around the agreement's terms.
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Unfortunately, even now, even today, on the very day of negotiations, we see how the Russians have already begun to manipulate.
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Zelensky stated in his nightly address.
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They are already trying to distort agreements and, in fact, deceive both our intermediaries and the entire world.
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At the heart of this dispute is whether sanctions relief is a precondition for implementation.
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The Kremlin insists the Black Sea agreements won't take effect unless links between some Russian banks and the international financial system are restored.
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Zelensky flatly rejected this claim, stating there's no such requirement for the deals to function.
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov further complicated matters by essentially suggesting Russia won't trust Ukraine to comply without American enforcement.
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We will need clear guarantees, lavrov declared, and given the sad experience of agreements with just Kiev, the guarantees can only be the result of an order from Washington to Zelensky and his team to do one thing and not the other.
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The Ukrainian leader, for his part, offered a blunt assessment of his own country's perspective.
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We have no faith in the Russians, but we will be constructive.
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He maintained the truce agreements take immediate effect and laid out his contingency plan if Moscow violates the terms, he'll ask Trump to impose additional sanctions and supply more weapons to Ukraine.
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Both sides are effectively placing the burden of enforcement on Washington's shoulders, creating a precarious situation where the United States now finds itself as the referee in a match where neither team trusts the other to play by the rules.
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The agreements also arrive as the Trump administration has notably softened its rhetoric toward Moscow, with Trump envoy Steve Witkoff recently stating he doesn't regard Putin as a bad guy, comments that sent shockwaves through European capitals, where many governments view the Russian leader as a dangerous adversary rather than a potential partner.
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For now, this delicate arrangement rests on a foundation of mutual distrust, with both sides keeping their options open should the other fail to comply with terms they can't even agree upon.
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In a move that's raising eyebrows across Washington, president Trump has officially pardoned Devin Archer, the former business partner of Hunter Biden, who was previously convicted of defrauding a Native American tribe.
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The pardon came Tuesday during a White House signing ceremony where Trump didn't hesitate to share his reasoning.
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I think he was treated very unfairly, trump declared before signing the pardon documents, and I looked at the record, studied the record, and he was a victim of a crime as far as I'm concerned.
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So we're going to undo that.
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With characteristic informality, the president added Congratulations Devin, apparently misremembering Archer's first name.
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What makes this pardon particularly noteworthy is Archer's connection to the Biden family and his more recent role as a key informant for House Republicans.
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After his conviction, archer became a significant source for congressional investigations into the Biden family's foreign business dealings, providing testimony that Republicans have used to question the former president's knowledge of his son's international business ventures.
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Archer and Hunter Biden's business relationship spans years, with the two men serving together on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma.
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Their partnership placed Archer at the center of some of the most contentious political investigations of recent years, culminating in this unexpected presidential clemency.
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The timing and nature of this pardon adds yet another chapter to the complex saga surrounding the Biden family's business affairs and Trump's ongoing interest in those matters, even after defeating Joe Biden in the 2024 election.
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According to the New York Post, which broke the story, this appears to be a developing situation with potentially more details to emerge, and that wraps up today's edition of Ranting Politics Headline Updates.
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We've covered quite the trifecta of political intrigue today President Trump standing firmly by his national security advisor, mike Waltz, despite that signal chat mishap that accidentally looped in the Atlantic's editor on Yemen's strike discussions.
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The complex US brokered maritime and energy ceasefire deals between Russia and Ukraine, with both sides already questioning the other's commitment.
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And Trump's surprising pardon of Devin Archer Hunter, biden's former business partner, who became a key witness for House Republicans.
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As always, we're committed to delivering the news that matters, without the partisan spin.
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These are complicated times, but we're here to help you make sense of it all during your daily commute.
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Don't forget to follow us on X at Ranting RP, and check us out on YouTube, spotify, iheartradio and Apple Podcasts.
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You can also visit us at RantingPoliticscom for more unfiltered news coverage that puts common sense first.
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This is JOC signing off, and thank you, our loyal listeners, for choosing Ranting Politics headline updates.
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We'll be back soon with the updates you need to navigate these interesting times.
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Until then, stay tuned, stay informed and, as always, stay free.
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