The White House said Monday that a Signal group chat discussing a US attack on Houthis in Yemen, which included Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, “appears to be authentic.”
Members of the Trump administration coordinated highly sensitive war plans via the insecure group chat, Goldberg wrote in a report for the publication on Monday.
Brian Hughes, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, confirmed a Signal group chat that included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, White House national security adviser Mike Waltz, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to Goldberg’s report.
“At this time, the reported message thread appears to be authentic, and we are investigating how an inadvertent number was added to the chain.” The thread demonstrates the depth and thoughtfulness with which senior officials coordinate policy.
“The ongoing success of the Houthi operation demonstrates that there were no threats to our service members or national security,” Hughes said in the statement.
The revelation sparked outrage and disbelief, including from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who faced criticism for using a private email server while at the State Department in the days leading up to the 2016 presidential election, which she lost to Trump.
Hegseth disputed Goldberg’s account of the conversation late Monday.
“I’ve heard the way it was described. “Nobody was texting war plans, and that’s all I have to say about it,” Hegseth said shortly after landing in Hawaii for a layover on his way to Asia.
Hegseth castigated Goldberg for being “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, hopes, or suckers and losers.”
“This is the guy who pedals through garbage. “This is what he does,” he explained.
When asked about the incident, President Donald Trump stated that he “doesn’t know anything about it,” later adding that he learned about it for the first time from the reporter who posed the question.
Trump later appeared to mock the story, reposting on his Truth Social platform a post by his adviser Elon Musk on X that read, “Best place to hide a dead body is Page 2 of The Atlantic magazine, because no one ever goes there”
Goldberg told ABC News Live anchor Linsey Davis that he initially responded to a request to connect from someone claiming to be Waltz, and that later, as the user identified as Waltz put together a group chat with other high-ranking White House officials to discuss military action in Yemen, that someone was “running a hoax” on him.
“And the main reason I thought that actually, was that it seemed completely absurd to me that the national security leadership of the United States would be meeting, you know, on a messaging app to discuss forthcoming military action, and that then they would also sort of invite the editor of The Atlantic magazine to that conversation,” he told me.
“And then, as the attack appears to be going well, they begin sending each other congratulatory texts containing emojis, fist emojis, fire emojis, and American flag emojis. And so that was the day that I realized, ‘Oh my God, the leaders of the United States are discussing this on my messaging app,'” he said.
When asked about his reaction when he realized the chat was real, Goldberg said, “Honestly, my reaction was, ‘I think I’ve discovered a massive security breach in the United States national security system,’ which is to say, it’s almost automatically true that if the editor in chief of The Atlantic is given access to this kind of information, weapon systems and packages, timing and weather in Yemen, and all kinds of information about sequencing of particular events
The Pentagon directed questions about Hegseth’s involvement in the Signal discussion and the sharing of attack plans to the National Security Council and the White House.
Tammy Bruce, a State Department spokesperson, was asked about the Atlantic report, including why Cabinet members were having a classified conversation over Signal and whether Rubio was concerned about the incident’s implications.
“Well, I have two very short things to say to you: First is that we will not comment on the secretary’s deliberative conversations, and secondly, that you should contact the White House,” Bruce explained.
According to Democratic Sen. Jack Reed, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, “the carelessness shown by President Trump’s cabinet is stunning and dangerous.”
“If true, this story represents one of the most egregious failures of operational security and common sense I have ever seen,” Mr. Reed said. “Military operations need to be handled with utmost discretion, using approved, secure lines of communication, because American lives are on the line.”
Other congressional Democrats expressed their disbelief and called for investigations.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries described the incident as “reckless, irresponsible, and dangerous.”
“These people are incredibly unqualified, irresponsible, and they’re jeopardizing America’s national security,” he said of Trump’s administration.
“The entire Trump administration is filled with sycophants and incompetent cronies. “I’m not referring to any specific person,” he added. “I will point out that the secretary of defense who was on that chain must be the most unqualified person ever to lead the Pentagon in American history.” Think about it.
Later Monday, Jeffries was more direct in his criticism of the secretary of defense.
“It is yet another unprecedented example that our nation is increasingly more dangerous because of the elevation of reckless and mediocre individuals, including the Secretary of Defense,” Mr. Jeffries said.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer urged Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Republicans to cooperate with Democrats in conducting a “full investigation” into the incident.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Clinton wrote on X.
“Mr. President, this is one of the most stunning breaches of military intelligence I have read about in a very, very long time,” Schumer stated on the Senate floor. “This level of carelessness is how people are killed. This is how our adversaries can take advantage of us. It puts our national security at risk.”
Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth, a retired Army National Guard lieutenant colonel, wrote on X: “Pete Hegseth, the most unqualified Secretary of Defense in history, is demonstrating his incompetence by literally leaking classified war plans in the group chat…Hegseth and Trump are making our country less safe.”
Delaware Sen. Chris Coons said the chat participants had “committed a crime — even if accidentally” and added, “We can’t trust anyone in this dangerous administration to keep Americans safe.”
Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego labeled the episode “amateur hour.”
“These are the genuises [sic] that are also selling out Ukraine and destroying our alliances all around the world,” he mentioned. “No wonder Putin is embarrassing them at the negotiation table.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson downplayed the incident, saying, “The administration is looking into what happened; apparently, an inadvertent phone number ended up on that thread.” They’ll track it down and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
When asked if having such a discussion on a third-party app was irresponsible, Johnson responded, “Look, I’m not going to characterize what happened. I believe the administration has acknowledged that it was a mistake and will tighten up to ensure that it does not happen again. I’m not sure what else you can say.
Johnson added that he does not think Waltz or Hegseth should be disciplined.
