Washington — Top national security officials for President Donald Trump, including his defense secretary, inadvertently shared plans for upcoming military strikes in Yemen with a group chat in a secure messaging app that included the editor-in-chief for The Atlantic, according to a story posted online Monday by the magazine. The National Security Council confirmed the authenticity of the text messages.
Trump initially told reporters he was unaware of the sensitive information sharing when it was brought to his attention 2.5 hours later. He later joked about the incident.
The messages contained operational details about forthcoming strikes on Iran-backed Houthi-rebels in Yemen, including targets and attack sequencing. It was unclear if the information was classified but is likely to be considered highly secure. The U.S. has conducted airstrikes against Houthi forces since they began targeting vessels in the Red Sea in November 2023.
Two hours after The Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg received the text details, U.S. forces began a series of airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.
The National Security Council is investigating how Goldberg’s number was added to the group chat. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and others in the chat, including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Trump’s director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, are under scrutiny.
Goldberg received the invitation to join the chat from Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz. Hegseth criticized Goldberg calling him “deceitful” and a “discredited so-called journalist,” and denied that war plans were discussed in the chat.
The White House stated that President Trump has full confidence in Waltz and the national security team.
Democratic lawmakers condemned the incident and called for full investigations, arguing that the handling could pose risks to military personnel and security. Some Republicans also expressed concerns.
The Espionage Act strictly regulates the sharing of national defense information and can penalize mishandling, including through negligence. Although Signal, the app used for the messages, is not classified, security and tech experts rate it as more secure than standard texting due to end-to-end encryption.
Signal has been used by some Biden administration officials for unclassified communications, often to send “tippers” — messages notifying someone that they have a secure message waiting.
Hegseth and others in the Trump administration faced criticism for the incident, with some questioning their qualifications and judgment in national security. The controversy also revealed internal discussions involving Vance about the importance of the strikes and their potential economic impact, with Vance expressing concerns about the timing of the operation.
Vance’s communications director later clarified that the vice president unequivocally supports the administration’s foreign policy.
Source: https://time.com/7271268/jeffrey-goldberg-hegseth-signal/
