In a significant security lapse, senior officials within the Trump administration inadvertently included Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, in a Signal group chat discussing classified military operations against Houthi militants in Yemen.
The group chat, established by National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, comprised high-ranking officials such as Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe. Goldberg was mistakenly added on March 11, 2025, and subsequently received detailed information regarding planned airstrikes, including specifics on targets, weaponry, and timing. The operations were executed as discussed on March 15.
Defense Secretary Hegseth has denied that war plans were texted, labeling Goldberg as “deceitful and highly discredited.” He stated, “Nobody was texting war plans, and that’s all I have to say about that.” Despite these denials, the National Security Council has confirmed the authenticity of the chat and initiated an investigation into the breach.
In an interview with MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki” just hours after the stunning breach of national security surfaced, Goldberg doubled down — claiming he saw a play-by-play of “what was about to happen” with the strikes.
“The specific time of a future attack; specific targets, including human targets meant to be killed in that attack; weapon system; even weather reports.
Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has called for a congressional investigation, describing the breach as “reckless, irresponsible, and dangerous.” Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, expressed bipartisan concern, stating, “We’re very concerned about it and we’ll be looking into it on a bipartisan basis.”
Former CIA Director Leon Panetta emphasized the severity of the situation, remarking, “Somebody needs to get fired.” He underscored the potential risk if such sensitive information had fallen into the hands of adversaries.
Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), went even further, calling it “incompetence so severe that it could have gotten Americans killed.”
For his part, Trump has brushed the leak as a mere ‘glitch.’
Goldberg has the last word:
“It’s interesting because as I’m reading it at 11:44 a.m. on Saturday morning, the 15th, seeing that the Houthis are not going to know about this for another couple of hours, and I know about it, and I’m thinking to myself, I mean, honestly, I’m thinking to myself, well, I’m glad that Mike Waltz didn’t invite a Houthi into the group or a Russian spy or an adversary of the United States,” he said.
