It might be the most shocking news story of the second Donald Trump era so far: On Monday, Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, revealed that he had accidentally been included in a group chat on the app known as Signal, in which 18 different leading administration figures, including Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, discussed plans for last week’s attack on the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The Houthi War Plan Leak
As Goldberg lays out in the story, he received a request on Signal on March 11 from Michael Waltz, the national security adviser. Two days later, he was invited to a smaller group called “Houthi PC small group.” President Trump himself was not part of the chat.
Over a few days, the group discussed plans for the Yemen attack, with Vance at one point appearing to break with President Trump’s position about the attack, stating that “I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now.”
At one point, Hegseth shared what Goldberg described as “operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing”; Goldberg did not, in the Atlantic piece, share exactly what those details were. The attack itself took place two hours later.
Why is This Significant?
There are two major issues here, aside from general embarrassment: The first is that Waltz, the national security adviser, accidentally invited a journalist — one with a national security background and the ability to know what was going on in the situation — to a sensitive discussion of war plans.
The second is that officials were using a commercially available texting app, rather than more secure channels available at the highest levels of the federal government, to discuss such sensitive topics.
Because if a journalist could get access to that chat, it’s not hard to imagine a hostile country’s intelligence services doing the same thing.
Why Didn’t Goldberg Stay?
As laid out in the story, Goldberg strongly suspected throughout this process that the entire text and thread were an elaborate ruse or disinformation campaign and only realized it was unquestionably real once the attack on Yemen that was discussed in the plans actually took place in real life.
At that point, Goldberg left the chat. On the day the story was published, he reached out for comment to Waltz and the staff participants.
It’s been frequently asked in the media why Goldberg didn’t stay in the chat for a longer period, perhaps to catch more information indefinitely. The answer would appear to be that this text channel, “Houthi PC small group,” was set up to discuss this specific mission, and would not have been used anymore once the mission was over.
Why did Waltz have Goldberg listed in his contacts in the first place? It’s possible that Waltz, who was in Congress before joining the administration, was a source of Goldberg’s at some point.
What Will the Consequences Be?
It would appear, not many.
Trump told NBC News Tuesday that Waltz, who invited Goldberg onto the chat, is a “good man” and won’t be fired. The president went on to state that “It was one of Michael’s people on the phone. A staffer had his number on there,” as his explanation as to how the journalist was added.
Trump has a long history of disliking Goldberg, who has authored such famous stories as the time former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly accused Trump of calling deceased soldiers “losers” and “suckers.”
THAAD Missile Defense Battery Firing. Image Credit: Lockheed Martin.
Could anyone involved be prosecuted for the national security breach, or forced out of their job? It’s hard to imagine such a thing being a priority of the Pam Bondi Justice Department, nor are we likely to see the matter pursued by a special prosecutor.
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
