The Atlantic’s Editor Says Top Trump Officials Accidentally Texted Him U.S. Secret War Plans — Update

UPDATED with Pete Hegseth comments: Many journalists have stories of how they’ve been inadvertently sent sensitive emails, texts and files, but The Atlantic editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg‘s revelation likely tops them all: He apparently was added accidentally to a text chain of the highest-ranking Trump administration national security officials as they outlined military strikes on the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

In a piece posted Monday in The Atlantic, Goldberg wrote that he received a connection request from a Signal user identifying himself as Michael Waltz, the national security adviser. Signal is an encrypted messaging app where texts can be made to disappear within a certain time frame. Goldberg said that he accepted the Signal request, “hoping that this was the actual national security adviser, and that he wanted to chat about Ukraine, or Iran, or some other important matter.”

Two days later, he received an invite to join a group titled “Houthi PC small group,” referring to the principals committee. Among those listed in the group were Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, among others.

Over the next couple of days, they discussed the plans for action against the Houthis. Vance, however, wrote that he thought “we are making a mistake.” Vance wrote, “3 percent of US trade runs through the suez. 40 percent of European trade does. There is a real risk that the public doesn’t understand this or why it’s necessary. The strongest reason to do this is, as POTUS said, to send a message.”

On March 15, Hegseth texted “operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing,” Goldberg wrote. Given the sensitive nature of the information, Goldberg did not go into details, concluding that it could be used to harm military and intelligence personnel. But he wrote that Hegseth’s text disclosed that the strickes in Yemen would start at 1:45 p.m. ET. As it turned out, Goldberg noted, that it is when the attacks started.

A spokesperson for the NSC confirmed the veracity of the Signal group to Goldberg. “This appears to be an authentic message chain, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain,” the spokesperson wrote to Goldberg.

Asked by a reporter about the story, Trump said, “I don’t know anything about it. You are telling me about it for the first time.”

At a stop in Hawaii, Hegseth was asked about what happened, and spent much of the time blasting Goldberg, suggesting that he was peddling a hoax, even though the White House confirmed the conversation was real. Pressed on The Atlantic story, Hegseth said, “Nobody was texting war plans, and that is all I have to say about that.”

Goldberg, appearing on Jen Psaki’s MSNBC show, responded to Hegseth’s comments, “I am going to be responsible here and not disclose the things that I read and saw. I will describe them to you: The specific time of a future attack. The specific targets, including human targets…weapons systems, even weather reports.”

“He can it wasn’t a war plan, but it was a minute-by-minute accounting of what was about to happen.” Later, on CNN, Goldberg was more direct, calling Hegseth’s assertion that he was not texting war plans a “lie.”

Goldberg’s story quickly spread across social media and hit the small screen.

Among major cable networks, CNN was first to do a segment on the bombshell. In an interview with the network, Leon Panetta, secretary of defense during Barack Obama’s presidency, said, “It’s obviously a very serious mistake…I hope the White House takes this seriously.” He said that there should be a full investigation as to how it happened. As Panetta was being interviewed, MSNBC and Fox News stayed with video of Trump’s cabinet meeting, although Hegseth was not present. The networks later featured segments on the story.

Adding to the extraordinary nature of the story is that Goldberg is hardly regarded as a friendly figure in the president’s inner circle. Trump previously has targeted Goldberg and The Atlantic, including last year when the media outlet published a report on how the president had derisively referred to soldiers who had died in wars.

Some Democrats quickly seized on the story. Minnesota Governor and 2024 VP candidate Tim Walz wrote on X, “Pete Hegseth texting out war plans like invites to a frat party.”

As news of the leak got out and pundits, more Democrats and even aghast Republicans responded, Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, took to the Elon Musk-owned social media platform: “Every single one of the government officials on this text chain have now committed a crime – even if accidentally – that would normally involve a jail sentence. We can’t trust anyone in this dangerous administration to keep Americans safe.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said, “It’s bad enough that a private citizen was added to this chain. But it’s far worse that sensitive military information was exchanged on an unauthorized application especially when that classified military information was so important.”

Hillary Clinton wrote on X, “You have got to be kidding me.” Trump, Rubio and others in the Signal chat had bashed Clinton over her private email server in the 2016 election.

Dominic Patten contributed to this report.