The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief was inadvertently included on a messaging chain of senior Trump officials that discussed plans for a forthcoming strike on the Houthis in Yemen.
Jeffrey Goldberg penned a first-person account of getting a connection request from what appeared to be Trump’s National Security Advisor Michael Waltz on March 11 on Signal, a popular encrypted messaging service used by journalists and government officials. He accepted and was then added to a chat group called “Houthi PC Small Group,” where he proceeded to see a series of top Trump officials discuss what turned out to be an upcoming attack on the Houthis, in what critics are calling a massive breach of national security.
Goldberg laid out how 18 members were listed in the group, including Waltz, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. What ensued in the following days was a discussion about attacking the Houthis, an Iran-backed terrorist group that’s wreaked havoc on ships in the Red Sea and disrupted traffic through the critical Suez Canal.
The principals in the chat raised various concerns about the timing of the strikes, whether it was prudent to wait, and the security of the operation. Vance’s account expressed skepticism about the attack, saying at one point he thought it was a mistake, and at another saying, “I just hate bailing Europe out again,” alluding to European trade having far more skin in the game with the Suez Canal than the United States.
Hegseth’s account said he supported raising Vance’s concerns with President Donald Trump but in the end supported the strike, writing, “Waiting a few weeks or a month does not fundamentally change the calculus. 2 immediate risks on waiting: 1) this leaks, and we look indecisive; 2) Israel takes an action first – or Gaza cease fire falls apart – and we don’t get to start this on our own terms. We can manage both. We are prepared to execute, and if I had final go or no go vote, I believe we should.”
The following day, according to Goldberg, Hegseth posted highly sensitive information in the chat with operational details of future strikes. Goldberg said he would not print them, but he claimed an adversary with access to what was written could have harmed U.S. military or intelligence officials abroad. Goldberg said he learned the timing of the Yemen strikes on March 15 from the Signal posts.
“According to the lengthy Hegseth text, the first detonations in Yemen would be felt two hours hence, at 1:45 p.m. eastern time,” he wrote. “So I waited in my car in a supermarket parking lot. If this Signal chat was real, I reasoned, Houthi targets would soon be bombed. At about 1:55, I checked X and searched Yemen. Explosions were then being heard across Sanaa, the capital city.”
Rubio is primed to have a major role in the next Trump administration, pictured here with JD Vance.
The U.S. airstrikes took out Houthi drone, missile and air defense systems, and Waltz touted them as an “overwhelming response” during an interview on ABC.
The open discussion on a non-secure channel left Goldberg stunned. He said at first he had doubts the group was legitimate given the high-profile names and the significance of the discussion.
“I had very strong doubts that this text group was real, because I could not believe that the national-security leadership of the United States would communicate on Signal about imminent war plans,” Goldberg wrote. “I also could not believe that the national security adviser to the president would be so reckless as to include the editor in chief of The Atlantic in such discussions with senior U.S. officials, up to and including the vice president.”
“I have never seen a breach quite like this,” he added. “It is not uncommon for national-security officials to communicate on Signal. But the app is used primarily for meeting planning and other logistical matters—not for detailed and highly confidential discussions of a pending military action.”
A National Security Council spokesperson told Fox News Digital it was reviewing the matter but acknowledged the breach.
“This appears to be an authentic message chain, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain,” NSC spokesperson Brian Hughes said. “The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials. The ongoing success of the Houthi operation demonstrates that there were no threats to troops or national security.”
