The White House said Monday it was reviewing how the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine was accidentally added to a group text in which people who appeared to be members of President Donald Trump’s administration discussed plans to launch airstrikes against Houthi militants in Yemen.
“At this time, the message thread that was reported appears to be authentic, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain,” the National Security Council said in a statement.
The statement came in response to an article published Monday by The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, a veteran national security and foreign affairs journalist. Goldberg reported he had been added to a group chat called “Houthi PC small group” on March 13 via Signal, an encrypted messaging service widely believed to be more secure than other commercial texting applications.
In the article, Goldberg described his initial skepticism, recalling that he discussed with colleagues whether the texts were “part of a disinformation campaign, initiated by either a foreign intelligence service, or, more likely, a media-gadfly organization” seeking to embarrass journalists.
Goldberg reported that he went on to receive a series of messages on Signal that appeared to come from Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, national security adviser Michael Waltz and other prominent officials in the Trump administration.
Asked by a reporter Monday how the information was shared with a journalist and whether the material was classified, Hegseth made disparaging remarks about Goldberg, calling him a “so-called journalist.”
“Nobody was texting war plans, and that’s all I have to say about that,” he added.
Goldberg responded to Hegseth’s remarks during an MSNBC interview Monday night.
“He can say that it wasn’t a war plan, but it was a minute-by-minute accounting of what was about to happen organized by CENTCOM,” Goldberg told host Jen Psaki, referring to Central Command, which directs U.S. military operations for the Middle East and other regions. “This is their plan, and he was taking their plan and sharing it with a bunch of civilian leaders.”
Goldberg added that Hegseth appears to be “trying to deflect from the fact that he participated in a conversation on an unclassified, commercial messaging app that you probably shouldn’t participate in.”
In his article, Goldberg quoted from the text chain discussion and The Atlantic published screenshots of the Signal thread. He wrote that the military plan discussed in the group chat “included precise information about weapons packages, targets, and timing,” adding that he refrained from reporting specific information that could potentially damage national security.
Goldberg reported that the user labeled “Michael Waltz” celebrated the launch of a series of airstrikes against the Houthis on March 15 at 1:48 p.m. ET, seven minutes before Goldberg checked X and saw that explosions were being heard across Sanaa, Yemen’s capital.
“The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials. The ongoing success of the Houthi operation demonstrates that there were no threats to our servicemembers or our national security,” the National Security Council said in its statement.
Goldberg reported that he exited the Signal group after he personally concluded it was “almost certainly real.”
“No one in the chat had seemed to notice that I was there. And I received no subsequent questions about why I left — or, more to the point, who I was,” Goldberg wrote.
In the article, Goldberg reported that a Signal account labeled “JD Vance” appeared to push back on the airstrike plans, saying in part: “I think we are making a mistake.” The user raised concerns about oil prices spiking, European nations benefiting from U.S. protection of global shipping lanes and a lack of public knowledge about the Houthis. The same account later replied to a user identified as “Pete Hegseth” and said, “if you think we should do it let’s go.”
In a statement to NBC News, Vance’s office said the vice president’s “first priority is always making sure that the President’s advisers are adequately briefing him on the substance of their internal deliberations.”
“Vice President Vance unequivocally supports this administration’s foreign policy. The President and the Vice President have had subsequent conversations about this matter and are in complete agreement,” the vice president’s office said.
Trump claimed he had no knowledge of the matter, telling a reporter in the Oval Office on Monday afternoon: “You’re telling me about it for the first time.”
The president later made light of the incident on social media, sharing a screenshot on Truth Social of Elon Musk’s post on X taking a dig at the publication.
Trump and Waltz spoke Monday afternoon about the Atlantic article, according to two sources familiar with their conversation, although it wasn’t clear if Waltz was the first person to bring the story to Trump’s attention.
Trump, as of late Monday night, had read the article himself, according to one of the sources.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Monday that Trump “continues to have the utmost confidence in his national security team, including National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.”
That statement was drafted and released after Trump spoke with Waltz about the article, one of the sources said.
Democrats erupt; Republicans less critical
The Atlantic article drew immediate criticism and mockery from Democratic lawmakers.
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on X: “This administration is playing fast and loose with our nation’s most classified info, and it makes all Americans less safe.”
“Every single one of the government officials on this text chain have now committed a crime — even if accidentally — that would normally involve a jail sentence,” said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., who is on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., blasted the episode as “amateur hour.” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic Party’s 2024 vice presidential candidate, quipped: “Pete Hegseth texting out war plans like invites to a frat party.”
Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., a member of the Armed Services Committee, characterized the episode as an “outrageous national security breach” and demanded “a full investigation and hearing into this.”
Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state and 2016 presidential candidate who drew intense criticism from Republicans for her use of a private email server, tweeted a screenshot of the Atlantic article with a simple message: “👀 You have got to be kidding me.”
Senate Republicans offered mixed reactions.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said, “You got to know who you’re sending your text to.”
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., appeared to echo that sentiment by saying, “Clearly, they’ve got to, you know, make sure that they’re careful how they do this.”
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said “somebody made a terrible mistake.”
“I hope they learn from it so it doesn’t happen again,” he said.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, called the incident “inconceivable and “an extremely troubling and serious matter.”
Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., offered a blunter assessment, saying, “Somebody f—ed up.”
Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said he expected the incident to be discussed during an intelligence hearing Tuesday, saying the incident may be raised by Democrats “and some of my Republican colleagues may raise it just as an issue to be very concerned about.”
In the House, Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., chided Trump’s national security team.
“Classified information should not be transmitted on unsecured channels — and certainly not to those without security clearances, including reporters. Period,” Lawler said on X. “Safeguards must be put in place to ensure this never happens again.”