Senior members of President Donald Trump’s administration have inadvertently disclosed sensitive military plans regarding U.S. operations against the Houthi armed group in Yemen. The breach occurred when Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, was mistakenly added to an encrypted Signal group chat named “Houthi PC Small Group,” where these plans were being discussed.
Participants in the chat included Vice President J.D. Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and other senior officials. The group exchanged detailed information about impending airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, including specifics on targets, weapons, and attack sequences. Goldberg reported that he received the Signal invitation from Waltz and, upon realizing the nature of the information, promptly deleted sensitive details from his device.
The National Security Council has confirmed the authenticity of the messages and is investigating how Goldberg was included in the group chat. NSC spokesperson Brian Hughes stated, “This appears to be an authentic message chain, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain.
Defense Secretary Hegseth has denied that “war plans” were discussed in the chat, asserting that the conversations were internal deliberations related to operational details about airstrikes against Houthi terrorists in Yemen. He criticized Goldberg as a “deceitful” and “discredited so-called journalist.”
This incident has drawn sharp criticism from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers. Democratic Representative Pat Ryan, an Army veteran on the House Armed Services Committee, described the breach as “FUBAR” (an acronym for “fouled up beyond all recognition”) and called for immediate hearings. Senator Jack Reed labeled the situation as one of the worst security failures and demanded answers from the administration.
The use of Signal, a commercial encrypted messaging app, for discussing classified information is particularly concerning, as it is not approved by the U.S. government for such purposes. While Signal is known for its strong encryption, the inadvertent inclusion of a journalist in a high-level government chat underscores significant operational security lapses.
President Trump has stated he was unaware of the incident and expressed his general disapproval of The Atlantic. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt affirmed that the President continues to have confidence in his national security team, including National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.
This breach raises serious questions about the administration’s handling of classified information and the protocols in place to safeguard national security.
