Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, revealed on Monday (March 3) that when the US military launched an attack on the Yemeni Shiite armed group Houthis on the 24th, he was unexpectedly added to an encrypted communication software Signal group composed of cabinet officials and witnessed the military's highly confidential discussion on air strikes against the Houthis. He said it was the worst leak he had ever seen.
BREAKING: The Trump admin accidentally texted a journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg, from The Atlantic, their top-secret war plans on Yemen.
—Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) March 24, 2025
Texts are below between Vance and Hegseth, in which the journalist was included.
Imagine if Biden did this! So incompetent. pic.twitter.com/CGIkNq0iNX
According to Goldberg's exclusive report, he received a connection request on Signal on the 11th from a user who called himself Michael Waltz. Goldberg said he assumed the "Waltz" referred to White House National Security Advisor Waltz, but did not dare to assume that the user was really him.
It is understood that in addition to Waltz, the 18 members of the group include US Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and several senior officials of the National Security Council.
Further reading｜Houthis claim to have attacked US troops 3 times in 4 days, accuse US of air strikes in many places in Yemen
According to Goldberg, the US military launched a large-scale airstrike on Houthi strongholds in Yemen at 15 pm on the 2th. He had learned that an attack might be imminent two hours before the first bomb exploded. At 11:44 a.m. that day, he was added to an encrypted chat room called the "Houthi PC small group," where Hegses sent a combat plan detailing precise information such as weapon deployment, attack targets and action schedules.
After the incident was exposed, it shocked Washington, and members of Congress from both parties believed that someone should be held accountable. National Security Council (NSC) spokesman Brian Hughes confirmed that the chat group mentioned in the report did exist and said relevant departments were investigating how these numbers were inadvertently added to the list.
U.S. President Donald Trump responded in an interview at the White House, "I have no idea about this. This is the first I've heard of it."
