Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, revealed on Monday (March 3) that he was mistakenly added to an encrypted communication software Signal group and learned about the discussion of the plan of air strikes on Yemen by senior national security officials, which caused an uproar in Washington. Goldberg later revealed in an interview that he initially thought he had been deceived and that a foreign intelligence mission or organization was setting a trap for the journalist.
"I thought I was being duped," Goldberg told NPR's "All Things Considered." "I thought this was either a foreign intelligence mission or an organization trying to set up journalists to embarrass them or feed them information."
Further reading｜National Security Advisor Waltz's job may be in jeopardy after mistakenly inviting journalist to Yemen war planning group?
He went on to say, "It was really chilling to realize that I had accidentally discovered a huge security loophole in the US national security system."
After Secretary Hegseth argued “nobody was texting war plans,” The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg responds: “That's a lie. He was texting war plans, he was texting attack plans.”
- Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) March 25, 2025
"When targets were going to targeted. How they were going to be targeted. Who was at the targets. When… pic.twitter.com/cKYh5NOIW7
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in an interview that "no one shared a battle plan in the group" and called Goldberg "a deceitful and extremely dishonest so-called journalist who has made it his profession to spread hoaxes over and over again."
