The US defence secretary shared details of a secret attack on Houthis in a message group that included his wife and brother, it has been reported.

Pete Hegseth, who came under intense pressure last month for sharing US strike plans in a Signal chat with a journalist, posted the same details in another group which included his family members and his personal lawyer, The New York Times reported.

In the second chat, which is understood to have been created by Mr Hegseth himself on his personal phone, Mr Trump’s cabinet member allegedly posted details of the flight schedules of the F/A-18 air strikes against the Iran-backed group in Yemen.

Mr Hegseth’s wife Jennifer, a former Fox News producer, has also been criticised for reportedly attending sensitive meetings with foreign military counterparts, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The move will spark further questions about national security and top US officials using unclassified messaging apps to share sensitive information.

It comes after Donald Trump’s most senior national security officials were last month embroiled in a row after details of an attack on the Houthis were shared in a chat Signal group that included Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic.

Mr Trump dismissed the scandal as a “witch-hunt”, attacked Mr Goldberg and defied calls to sack his national security adviser, Mike Waltz, who added the journalist to the chat.

The second Signal chat, which was named “Defense Team Huddle” included around a dozen people and was reportedly created before Mr Hegseth was confirmed as defence secretary.

Mr Hegseth reportedly posted details of the strikes in both chats at around the same time.