Secret US military plans leaked on group chat

The White House on Monday confirmed that top Trump administration officials inadvertently included a journalist in a group chat about US military plans.

The chat on the Signal messaging app about upcoming military strikes reportedly included several members of President Donald Trump’s cabinet, including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

The editor of The Atlantic magazine, Jeffrey Goldberg, published a story on Monday in which he said he initially thought it could not be real.

“I had very strong doubts that this text group was real, because I could not believe that the national-security leadership of the United States would communicate on Signal about imminent war plans,” he wrote.

Journalist knew hours before the strikes were carried out that they would happen

Goldberg was in the group chat where plans for airstrikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen were discussed.

On March 15, the US targeted rebel strongholds in Yemen.

Goldberg wrote that he had hours of advance notice via the group chat. He was still under the impression the chat group was fake, but when the US strikes on Yemen were reported, he realized it was real.

“Having come to this realization, one that seemed nearly impossible only hours before, I removed myself from the Signal group,” he wrote.

On Monday, National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes told the AFP news agency, “The message thread that was reported appears to be authentic, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain.”

Outrage among Democratic lawmakers

Asked about his cabinet members using Signal to discuss military plans, Trump said, “I don’t know anything about it.”

Later, White House Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “President Trump continues to have the utmost confidence in his national security team, including National Security Advisor Mike Waltz,” who seemingly added Goldberg to the chat. 

Hegseth meanwhile denied to reporters that war plans were shared.

“Nobody was texting war plans, and that’s all I have to say about that,” Hegseth told reporters in Hawaii.

He also said Goldberg was “deceitful” and a “discredited so-called journalist,” referring to The Atlantic’s critical reporting of President Trump.

Congressional Democrats were however demanding action be taken. 

The top House Democrat, Hakeem Jeffries, says Congress should investigate to understand what happened and to prevent “this type of national security breach from ever happening again.”

“If House Republicans won’t hold a hearing on how this happened IMMEDIATELY, I’ll do it my damn self,” Pat Ryan, a Democrat who sits on the Armed Services Committee, wrote on social media.

Senator Elizabeth Warren called it “blatantly illegal and dangerous beyond belief.”

“What other highly sensitive national security conversations are happening over group chat? Any other random people accidentally added to those, too?”

JD Vance on ‘bailing Europe out again’

Shortly after Israel’s war in Gaza started following Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023, the Houthis began firing missiles at Israel and international shipping lanes in the Red Sea.

The Iran-backed group said it was a bid to support Hamas and the Palestinians. US President Joe Biden ordered several strikes against the Houthis but largely failed to restore stability to the region.

The missions were carried out with military backing from European countries including the UK and Germany. During the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas earlier this year, Houthi militia paused their attacks but resumed them after Israel resumed operations in Gaza.

In the Signal group chat, a person identified as Vice President Vance expressed doubts about fresh US strikes on the Houthis, saying he hated “bailing Europe out again.”

A person, purportedly National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, said only the US had the capability to carry out the mission.

A person believed to be Hegseth noted that he shared Vance’s “loathing of European freeloading.”