Top Trump administration officials mistakenly texted war plans to a group that included a journalist, the White House said on Monday, in a misstep that has drawn swift condemnation by Democratic lawmakers.
The editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, said in a report on Monday that on March 13 he was unexpectedly invited on to an encrypted group chat on Signal messenger called the “Houthi PC small group.”
Messages in the group made Goldberg aware that large-scale U.S. strikes on Yemen’s Houthi rebels were coming hours before they started.
The strikes, over Houthi attacks against Red Sea shipping, came on March 15.
Before they began, Goldberg said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted operational details about the plan in the group, including, quote, “information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing.”
The chat also included accounts that appeared to represent Vice President JD Vance, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and others.
At one point the person identified as Vance appeared to question whether U.S. allies in Europe, more exposed to shipping disruption in the Red Sea, deserved U.S. help.
A person identified as Hegseth replied: “VP: I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC.”
President Donald Trump’s nominee for National Counterterrorism Center director Joe Kent, was apparently on the Signal chain despite not yet being confirmed by the Senate.
White House National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes said the chat appeared to be authentic, and that the NSC was reviewing how a quote ‘inadvertent number’ had been added.
When asked about The Atlantic report on Monday, Hegseth denied sharing war plans in the chat and attacked Goldberg’s credibility.
Hegseth: “So you’re talking about a deceitful and highly discredited so-called journalist who’s made a profession of peddling hoaxes time and time again, to include the I don’t know, the hoaxes of ‘Russia, Russia, Russia’ or the ‘fine people on both sides’ hoax or ‘suckers and losers’ hoax. This is a guy who peddles in garbage It’s what he does.”
Journalist: “Why were those details shared on Signal and how did you learn that a journalist was privy to the targets, the types of weapons used?”
Hegseth: “I’ve heard that was characterized, nobody was texting war plans. And that’s all I have to say about that. Thank you.”
In an interview on CNN late on Monday, Goldberg responded to Hegseth’s denial, saying quote, “No, that’s a lie. He was texting war plans.”
“Mr. President, this is one of the most stunning breaches of military intelligence I have read about in a very, very long time.”
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and other Democratic lawmakers have called the use of the Signal group illegal and demanded an investigation.
“I don’t know anything about it.”
Trump told reporters at the White House Monday that he was unaware of the group chat incident.
The White House has given no sign so far that the breach would lead to any staffing changes.