Washington — Key Trump advisors, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance, reportedly conversed about a highly classified operation targeting Houthi positions in Yemen within a group chat that mistakenly included Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, as he detailed in a Monday article.
During a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Monday afternoon, Goldberg published an account of how he was added to the chat on the encrypted messaging platform Signal earlier this month by an account named after White House national security adviser Mike Waltz. Subsequently, he noted that an account labeled “Pete Hegseth” outlined a plan for strikes in Yemen, providing specific details regarding weapon packages, targets, and the timing of the attack just before it was executed.
The National Security Council indicated that the messages appear to be “authentic” in a statement to CBS News following the article’s release.
“Currently, the message thread in question appears to be authentic, and we are investigating how an unintended number was included in the chain,” a spokesman for the National Security Council said. “The thread exemplifies the thorough and thoughtful policy coordination among senior officials. The ongoing success of the Houthi operation demonstrates that there were no threats to our service members or national security.”
Goldberg mentioned that on March 11, he received a connection request on Signal from a user named “Mike Waltz” with no explanation. By March 13, he was added to a group chat in Signal labeled “Houthi PC small group,” which he interpreted as indicative of a “principals committee,” a group of senior officials.
The chat reportedly included other prominent Trump officials, such as Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, according to Goldberg.
Goldberg expressed initial skepticism regarding the group’s legitimacy, suspecting it might be part of a “disinformation campaign” or an attempt to embarrass journalists.
“I had serious doubts about the reality of this text group, as I found it hard to believe that the United States’ national-security leadership would discuss imminent war plans on Signal,” Goldberg stated.
The Houthis, an Iranian-backed rebel faction in Yemen, have been attacking commercial vessels and naval ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden for over a year, jeopardizing maritime trade. They have cited the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas as justification for their assaults. President Trump claimed last week that Iran was behind the attacks and cautioned that it would “suffer the consequences” of further strikes.
On March 14, the officials in the Signal chat deliberated over the timing of an operation targeting the group, according to Goldberg. The account labeled “JD Vance” raised concerns that attacking the Houthis would mainly benefit Europe, all while Mr. Trump had been urging European allies to take greater responsibility for their security.
“I’m uncertain if the president understands how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now. There’s a significant risk of a moderate to severe increase in oil prices,” Vance reportedly wrote, as noted by Goldberg. “I’m willing to back the team’s consensus and keep these concerns to myself. However, there’s a compelling case for postponing this for a month, doing the necessary messaging on its importance, and assessing the economic situation, etc.”
Goldberg recounted that Hegseth replied: “VP: I acknowledge your concerns — and I fully support you bringing this up with POTUS. These considerations are crucial, many of which are challenging to anticipate (economy, Ukraine peace, Gaza, etc.). Messaging will be tough regardless — few understand who the Houthis are — which is why we must remain focused on: 1) Biden failed & 2) Iran funded.”
On March 15, Hegseth shared an update, and other members responded in texts that Goldberg has refrained from publishing, citing that “the information within them, if accessed by an adversary of the United States, could potentially endanger American military and intelligence personnel, especially within Central Command’s area of responsibility in the broader Middle East.”
“To illustrate the shocking recklessness of this Signal conversation, I can say that the Hegseth post contained operational details of imminent strikes on Yemen, including target information, the weapons the U.S. would deploy, and the sequence of attacks,” Goldberg wrote.
Goldberg noted that Hegseth informed the group that the strikes against the Houthis would start at 1:45 p.m. ET.
“So, I sat in my car in a supermarket parking lot. If this Signal chat was genuine, I reasoned, Houthi targets would soon face bombings. Around 1:55, I searched X for Yemen. Explosions began echoing across Sanaa, the capital city,” he continued.
He checked the Signal chat and found a series of congratulatory messages from Waltz and others:
“I concluded that the Signal chat group was most likely genuine. Having come to this realization, which had seemed nearly impossible only hours earlier, I left the Signal group, knowing that this would automatically notify the group’s creator, ‘Michael Waltz,’ that I had exited,” Goldberg observed. “No one in the chat seemed to notice my presence. I received no inquiries after I left — nor, more significantly, about who I was.”
At 2:29 p.m., Mr. Trump posted a message on Truth Social announcing the strike.
“Today, I have directed the United States Military to execute decisive and powerful military action against the Houthi terrorists in Yemen. They have conducted a relentless campaign of piracy, violence, and terrorism against American and other ships, aircraft, and drones,” Mr. Trump stated. “The Houthi attack on American vessels will not be tolerated. We will use overwhelming lethal force until we achieve our objective.”
On Monday afternoon, Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, remarked that the incident, if accurate, “represents one of the most blatant failures of operational security and common sense I have ever encountered.”
“Military operations must be conducted with the utmost discretion, utilizing approved, secure communication channels, as American lives are at stake. The negligence demonstrated by President Trump’s cabinet is both shocking and dangerous,” Reed stated. “I will be demanding answers from the Administration immediately.”
