Messages of National Security, Ukraine, Houthi, Gaza and Hamas Accidentaly Shared with the Atlantic Editor-in-Chief on Signal

• The editor-in-chief of the Atlantic was sent a request to join a group discussing war plans targeting Houthis
• Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic accepted the Signal request to read sensitive chats between officials
• The invitation was sent by Pete Hegseth, United States Secretary of Defense

The Trump administration accidentally exposed chats related to the Yemen strikes and other war plans to the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg. Goldberg later posted the Signal chat on the multi-platform publication in stark detail. 

Goldberg was sent a connection request on March 11 by Michael Waltz which he hesitantly accepted. Pete Hegseth, United States Secretary of Defense exchanged messages with the group.

Several war intelligence were exchanged over a few days. On March 13, Goldberg was added to another group called the Houthi PC small group.

Text messages were exchanged by the following officials:

• Pete Hegseth, United States Secretary of Defense
• Michael Waltz, National Security Advisor of the United States
• Marco Antonio Rubio, Secretary of State
• JD Vance, Vice President of the United States
• Tulsi Gabbard, United States Director of National Intelligence
• Scott Bessent, United States Secretary of the Treasury
• Brian McCormack, National Security Council
• John Ratcliffe, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
• Joe Kent, former U.S. Army special operations soldier and Central Intelligence Agency Officer 
• Stephen Miller, Deputy White House Chief of Staff

The private chat included other government officials discussing war plans. 

The Atlantic reported that the Signal group included 18 members from the government. Some were identified by their initials including SM presumably Stephen Miller, United States Homeland Security Advisor.

“The world found out shortly before 2 p.m. Eastern time on March 15 that the United States was bombing Houthi targets across Yemen. I, however, knew two hours before the first bombs exploded that the attack might be coming,” the Atlantic's editor-in-chief reported. 

Critical details like war weapons, targets, and timings were discussed in the group. An initial message read, “Team – establishing a principles [sic] group for coordination on Houthis, particularly for over the next 72 hours. My deputy Alex Wong is pulling together a tiger team at deputies/agency Chief of Staff level following up from the meeting in the Sit Room this morning for action items and will be sending that out later this evening.”

Another message asked for the best staff POC followed by the nomination of officials which included:

• Marco Antonio Rubio nominated ‘Mike Needham for State’ - Michael A. Needham is the Counselor and Chief of Staff to the Secretary of State serving as the special advisor and consultant
• JD Vance nominated ‘Any Baker for VP’ 
• Tulsi Gabbard nominated ‘Joe Kent for DNI’
• Scott B nominated ‘Dan Katz for Treasury’
• Pete Hegseth nominated ‘Dan Caldwell for DoD’
• Brian McCormack nominated himself for the NSC
• John Ratcliffe suggested by an unnamed active intelligence officer 

After reading sensitive messages presumably from the U.S. government, Goldberg felt anxious and consulted his colleagues who argued it could be a disinformation campaign. Moreover, the possibility of discussing matters of national importance over Signal with added media personnel seemed improbable.

On March 14, Waltz asked the group for a statement of conclusion with taskings from the President in their ‘high side inboxes’ referring to classified computer and communication systems. 

They mentioned developing a list of regional allies and partners, a specific sequence of events to be given in the coming days, and coordinating with the DoD to relay the messages to the POTUS, OVP, and COS.

Goldberg was stunned to read a message from Vance who spoke about being in Michigan for an economic event while he was indeed in Michigan. 

Vance addressed making a mistake, US trade running through the Suez, the risk that the people do not understand, European trade, and the vice president not deviating from Trump’s stance on any issue.

He further expressed concern over the spike in oil prices, the message sent to Europe, and the state’s economy. Pete Hegseth replied that he understood his raising the concerns with the POTUS and mentioned how the considerations impact other areas like the Ukraine peace deal and Gaza. 

They stressed the impact of sending a message with Joe Kent who is Trump’s nominee for the National Counterterrorism Center and John Ratcliffe participating in the chat.

Hegseth wrote, “I think messaging is going to be tough no matter what – nobody knows who the Houthis are – which is why we would need to stay focused on: 1) Biden failed & 2) Iran funded.”

Hegseth mentioned how waiting would not help the cause, it would make them look indecisive and have an impact on the Gaza cease-fire and Israel taking its course of action. 

They discussed restoring freedom of navigation as a core national interest and reestablishing deterrence which Biden ‘cratered.’ They mentioned enforcing 100% OPSEC - operation security which led Michael Waltz to send a lengthy note about trade figures, and the limited capabilities of the European navy. 

Waltz further added, “Whether it’s now or several weeks from now, it will have to be the United States that reopens these shipping lanes.” He assured that he was working with the DoD and state per the president’s request to evaluate the cost and take it to the Europeans.

Vance expressed his disappointment in bailing Europe out again which received a response from Hegseth admitting a shared loathing for ‘European free-loading.’

It appears that the government officials are concerned about national security, the war, and trade relations with Europe. They are tasked with completing the work but are evaluating the consequences of their actions. 

The last messages were from Stephen Miller, the deputy White House chief of staff, and Pete Hegseth. The Atlantic journalist Goldberg declined to share the last message due to concern over the security of the American military and intelligence personnel.

He did mention that it was about future strikes on Yemen and shared that Vance concluded the chat with, “I will say a prayer for victory.”

To check if the claimed strikes on Yemen were true, Goldberg looked up X around that time to find that the capital city Sanaa was indeed bombed. 

Several text messages and emojis were exchanged after the blasts. They assessed the damage done and the death toll from the strikes. Goldberg, at this point, exited the group. He was not contacted by either of the group members upon exiting it. 

Today, Goldberg emailed Waltz and messaged him on Signal along with Pete Hegseth, John Ratcliffe, Tulsi Gabbard and others. He asked several questions about the legitimacy of the Signal group, if they knew he was part of it, if he was added on purpose, if they were aware of this presence and so on.

He received a response after two hours from Brian Hughes who is the spokesperson for the National Security Council confirming the veracity of the Signal group. He wrote, “This appears to be an authentic message chain…” Addressing the chat, he wrote that the matter will be investigated and called the discussion, ‘a deep and thoughtful policy coordination’ between senior officials.

William Martin, spokesperson for JD Vance assured that he was completely aligned with the President as opposed to the sentiment conveyed in the chat. 

Waltz may be answerable for coordinating a national security action through a Signal group. Signal is not to be used for highly confidential discussions of military action; it constitutes a violation of the Espionage Act.

Officials must use the governments own systems called Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) for similar discussions. It is also installed in the homes of most Cabinet-level national security officials.