President Donald Trump’s Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accidentally included top editors in a signal text chat group that revealed plans for attacks on Yemen’s Hotty rebels earlier this month, according to the magazine.
Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg reported in a nearly 3,500-word story published Monday that the U.S.’s top national security leader included him in a group chat about signals about an upcoming military strike in Yemen. “I think it might be true,” he wrote. “Then the bombs started to fall.”
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According to a Goldberg report, he received a connection request from Signal, an open source encrypted messaging application, which was determined from Michael Waltz. “I thought Michael Waltz was the national security adviser to President Donald Trump. However, I don’t think the requirement is from the actual Michael Waltz,” Goldberg wrote.
In this story, Goldberg details how the same user later added him to a group chat called the “Houthi PC Group” (or the principal’s committee) and the connections appear to be the national security leaders of the Trump administration, including Heggs, Jaed Vance Vice President Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Intelligence Agency Talsi Talsi Talsi Gaibull and Vice-Chancellor’s principal,
On March 15, about two hours before the U.S. bombing in Yemen broke out in March 15, Hegseth, a former host of Fox News’ Fox and Friends Weekend, texting the Signal Group the War Plan, which included “accurate information about weapons packages, goals and timing,” Goldberg wrote.
“I have never seen such a violation,” Goldberg wrote. “It is not uncommon for national security officials to communicate on signals. But the application is primarily used to meet planning and other logistical matters, and is not a detailed and highly confidential discussion of pending military operations. Of course, I have never heard of such discussions inviting journalists to have.”
According to the Atlantic, National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes confirmed the authenticity of the messaging team. “This seems to be a real chain of messages, and we are reviewing how unintentional numbers are added to the chain,” Hughes wrote. “This thread shows a profound and thoughtful policy coordination among senior officials. The ongoing success of Houthi’s operation shows that there is no threat to the force or national security.”
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