The Atlantic's editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was inadvertently included in a private Signal group chat used by top Trump officials.
Real-time operational details of a planned U.S. military strike on Yemen were shared in the chat, including specific launch times, strike targets, and the identification of a Houthi figure as "Target Terrorist" with their location. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth even sent a message saying, "TIME NOW (1144et): Weather is FAVORABLE. Just CONFIRMED w/CENTCOM we are a GO for mission launch," just 31 minutes before the launch.
The Signal group, dubbed the “Houthi PC small group,” included prominent officials such as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, Vice President J.D. Vance, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, as well as CENTCOM leadership.
Despite public denials from officials like Tulsi Gabbard and John Ratcliffe claiming no classified material was shared, The Atlantic published the raw text messages. Experts have warned that if these messages had fallen into the wrong hands, the consequences could have been catastrophic.
The White House argues that the messages weren't technically "classified" but still objected to their publication without specifying the sensitive elements. However, the messages revealed the sharing of real-time intelligence, including confirmation of the killing of a top Houthi missile expert.
President Trump reportedly had never heard of Signal before this and initially downplayed the incident but later stewed privately over his team's "sloppiness.” He also attacked Jeffrey Goldberg and The Atlantic.
National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, who reportedly added Goldberg to the chat, claimed to be investigating the leak (he leaked it, actually).
The incident has drawn criticism from Democrats, confused testimony from intelligence leaders, and further "gaslighting" from Trump allies. Senator Mark Warner described it as "sloppy, careless, incompetent behavior, particularly toward classified information." Former Pentagon spokesperson Chris Meagher called using a commercial messaging app like Signal for sensitive national-security operations "sloppy, inappropriate, and puts our troops at risk.”
The publication of the chat, according to Goldberg, allows "people to see the texts in order to reach their own conclusions.” He suggests the incident reveals a level of recklessness in matters of national security.
This event is considered a significant breach of operational security with potentially severe consequences.
