03.51 EDT Trump backs Hegesth as administration denies it is suffering 'dysfunction' US president Donald Trump has said he backs beleaguered defense secretary Pete Hegseth as the row over his use of the Signal messaging deepended, amid a series of chaotic missteps from the administration with grave consequences. A legal battle with Harvard University appears to have been triggered by a letter sent to the university from the administration prematurely, people have been wrongfully deported, and the IRS has run through a succession of leaders in record time. Trump said criticism of Hegseth was “fake news” and the actions of disgruntled ex-employees, and that pursuing the issue was a “waste of time”. Hegseth has been accused of sharing military details in two different Signal chat groups. Harrison Fields, a spokesperson for the White House, denied the administration was dysfunctional, saying “You can’t have this many results with high levels of dysfunction”. He did not specify which results the administration was proud of. A government professor at Georgetown University told the New York Times that it had been reasonable to expect that a Trump administration “more disciplined this time around”. A lack of senior officials and advisers in position around Trump, many of whom have been replaced by campaigning loyalists, compared to his first term, is being blamed in some quarters for the chaotic performance.