In a move straight out of a political thriller, top Trump administration officials – including high-ranking national security officials – accidentally leaked sensitive war plans in a private messaging group on Signal right around the time the United States launched military strikes against Yemen’s Iran-allied Houthis. The White House confirmed the lapse following a bombshell report from The Atlantic on March 24. (Pete Hegseth)
The chat included a journalist yes, really, a journalist which sparked an uproar. Democratic lawmakers called it a major breach of national security that should be investigated by the US Congress.
How It All Happened
So, here’s how it all happened.
The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was unexpectedly invited to an encrypted Signal group called the “Houthi PC Small Group” on March 13. It looked like an invite list for a closed-door national security meeting, not something you might casually stumble across.
In the group, national security adviser Mike Waltz instructed his deputy, Alex Wong, to set up a Tiger Team to coordinate U.S. action against the Houthis. The invitation caught his attention, while Goldberg was perhaps more used to chasing stories than military secrets. (Pete Hegseth)
The Details of the Leak
He reported that before President Trump ordered massive military strikes on March 15, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hexit shared operational details in the chat — everything from targets and weapons to the attack sequence.
The timing was less than ideal. The U.S. had just begun a campaign of airstrikes against the Houthis, who were targeting Red Sea shipping. Trump’s warning to Iran — the Houthis’ leading supporter — was loud and clear: Stop supporting the group. But just hours before the bombs fell, Hexit was sending tactical details to the wrong people.
In his report, Goldberg did not name specific targets or weapons, but he called the use of Signal for such sensitive exchanges “shockingly reckless.” (Pete Hegseth)
Who Was in the Group?
The group didn’t just include defense and intelligence officials. According to The Atlantic, the chat included accounts belonging to Vice President Jerry Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant, White House Chief of Staff Suzy Wills, and several other senior NSC officials. Even Joe Kent, Trump’s nominee for director of the National Counterterrorism Center — who the Senate has not yet confirmed — appeared in the thread. Who knew that Signal was so social? (Pete Hegseth)
Official Denials and Media Backlash
Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Pete Hexit denied the allegations and said no one in the group was text messaging.
He was asked, “Your information about the war plans against the Houthis and Yemen was shared with a reporter from The Atlantic. Were those details confidential?”
“You’re talking about a deceptive and highly discredited so-called journalist who has made a career of spreading lies over and over again – Russia, Russia, Russia… lies about ‘good guys on both sides’, or lies about ‘idiots and losers’. So this is a guy who sells bullshit. That’s what he does. I would prefer to comment on the Houthi campaign because of the skill and courage of our soldiers. I’ve followed it very closely from the beginning.
“We’ve been managing four years of deferred maintenance under the Trump administration. Our soldiers, our sailors, were being shot at. Our ships could not move, and when they did fire back, it was entirely defensively or at the shackles in Yemen. President Trump said no more. We will reestablish deterrence. We will open up freedom of navigation. And we will eventually eliminate the Houthis — which is what we are doing right now.” “Why were those details shared on Signal, and how did you know that a reporter had information on the targets and the types of weapons used?”
“I heard that was the specialty… Nobody was sending battle plans. That’s all I have to say about it.”
Trump’s Response to the Leak (Pete Hegseth)
When reporters got wind of the leak, President Trump had his thoughts. (Pete Hegseth)
“Mr. President, what is your reaction to the story in The Atlantic? It said some of your top cabinet officials and aides were discussing sensitive material through Signal, which involved an Atlantic reporter. What is your reaction to that?”
“I don’t know anything about that. I’m not a big fan of The Atlantic. It, to me, is a magazine that’s going out of business. I think it’s not a special magazine. But I don’t know anything about it. Are you saying they were using Signal to coordinate on sensitive materials? And related to who?”
“Related to the Houthis.”
“Related to the Houthis? Do you mean an attack on the Houthis? Well, it couldn’t have been very effective – because the attack was very effective, I can tell you that. I don’t know anything about it. You’re telling me about it.”
White House Investigation Underway
A White House official later clarified that the investigation is ongoing and that Trump has been briefed on the situation.
Meanwhile, NSC spokesman Bryan Hughes acknowledged that the chat thread appears to be authentic, assuring everyone that the ongoing success of Houthi operations has proven that no American service members or national security interests were harmed. Still, the White House is reviewing how the journalist was added to the chat and how it all went wrong. (Pete Hegseth)
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