Washington (TDI): Top Trump administration officials mistakenly disclosed war plans in a messaging group that included a journalist shortly before the United States attacked Yemen’s Houthis, the White House said on Monday, following a first-hand account by The Atlantic.
Democratic lawmakers swiftly criticized the misstep, saying it was a breach of US national security and a violation of law that must be probed by Congress.
The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg revealed in a report on Monday that he was unexpectedly invited on March 13 to an encrypted chat group on the Signal messaging app called the “Houthi PC small group”.
In the group, national security adviser Mike Waltz tasked his deputy Alex Wong with making a “tiger team” to coordinate Washington’s action against the Houthis.
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National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes stated the chat group appeared to be authentic.
US President Donald Trump started an ongoing campaign of large-scale military attacks against Yemen’s Houthis on March 15 over the group’s strikes against Red Sea shipping, and he warned Iran, the Houthis’ main backer, that it should immediately halt support for the group.
Hours before those strikes started, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth shared operational details about the plan in the messaging group, “including information about targets, weapons the US would be using, and attack sequencing”, Goldberg said.
Accounts that appeared to represent Vice President JD Vance, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, and key National Security Council officials were assembled in the chat group, Goldberg wrote.
Joe Kent, Trump’s nominee for National Counterterrorism Center director, was apparently on the Signal chain despite not yet being Senate-confirmed.
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Trump told journalists at the White House that he was unaware of the incident.
“I don’t know anything about it. I’m not a big fan of The Atlantic,” Trump said.
A White House official said later that a prove was under way and Trump had been briefed on it.
