Trump Administration Accidentally Adds The Atlantic’s Editor-in-Chief in Group Chat About War Plans
(Pictures courtesy of The Atlantic’s verified Instagram account @theatlantic)
Kerry Kadel | Editor-in-Chief
Jeffrey Goldberg knew about the U.S. bombing Houthi targets across Yemen two hours before the rest of the world did. At 11:44 am, he received a text message from the secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, detailing precise plans about targets, timings, and weapons packaging.
These highly sensitive plans came about when the Editor-in-Chief was added to a group chat on Signal, a free open-source messaging service, with more than a dozen individuals. Important names such as Vice-President J.D. Vance, the secretary of state, Marco Rubio; national security advisor, Mike Waltz; and Pete Hesgeth.
Chuck Schumer, minority leader of the house, was quoted on the Senate floor Monday, Mar. 24 describing the leaks as “one of the most stunning breaches of military intelligence I have read about in a very, very long time.” He insisted that Republicans seek out a full investigation as to how this incident happened in order to avoid a repeat in the future.
Many representatives and political figures are outraged by the accident and how careless it has made the government look. New York representative Pat Ryan has called the situation “Fubar,” an acronym that stands for “f**ked up beyond all recognition.”
Congressman of California, Ro Khanna told the Guardian that this has made the U.S. “look weak to our adversaries,” and that the U.S. needs to take cybersecurity more seriously in the future.
Goldberg’s article exposes more than a historic mishandling of national security, but also a “potentially illegal communication chain” about airstrikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen casually shared in a group chat that has automatic delete functions.
Jim Himes, top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, is horrified by the Signal group chat leaks, and proposes that these violations are placing serving Americans in harm’s way. “[U.S. soldiers] know the calamitous risks of transmitting classified information across unclassified systems, and they also know that if a lower-ranking official under their command did what is described here, they would likely lose their clearance and be subject to criminal investigation.”
Waltz was the one to create the group chat, according to a related article from The New York Times annotating the messages. Additional names to note from the dozen who were included in this chat are Tulsi Gabbard, director of national intelligence; treasury secretary, Scott Bessent; White House deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller; Susie Wiles, White House chief of staff; and Steve Witkoff, special envoy to Middle East and Russia.
President Trump has downplayed this incident, stating that no classified information was shared. However, Democrats are continuing to amplify the fact that Hegseth could have placed American troops in danger due to his reckless behavior with his involvement in the group chat. President Trump is backing Waltz up, but White House officials refuse to answer questions on the specifics of the information about who, exactly, deemed the bombing was unclassified and was allowed to be shared on Signal.
Hegseth denounced Jeffrey Goldberg late Monday, Mar. 24, 2025, claiming that Goldberg had been “peddling hoaxes time and time again.” After a full transcript of the text messages were released, White House press secretary Katherine Leavitt posted to X that, “This entire story was another hoax written by a Trump-hater who is well-known for his sensationalist spin.” On Tuesday, Mar. 25, two intelligence officials confirmed that the message exchanges that were released by The Atlantic were real.
The first message in the group chat was sent on Thursday, Mar. 13, 2025, from Michael Waltz. According to the annotation from The New York Times article–which you can read here for a more detailed explanation–the plans were centered around the Houthis, an “Iranian-backed group in Yemen whose attacks in the Red Sea have dramatically increased shipping costs. The Biden administration sought to curb their attacks with strikes from aircraft carriers, but with limited success.”
As stated earlier, many are outraged by the lack of care that government officials took for the sensitive materials and how it places the United States on a pedestal, shining in a negative light. Many government officials in the Democratic Party wish for Waltz to step down due to this incredible misuse of private information, unclassified or not.
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