In an article Monday, the Atlantic magazine editor-in-chief revealed that Trump administration officials had revealed to him key military details about US airstrikes on March 15, hours before the attack, on March 15, a target of Hooty rebels in Yemen.
Veteran journalist Jeffrey Goldberg said US government officials accidentally added him to a text messaging channel, where they mapped the strike.
The US government has admitted that message threads appear to be authentic. The incident prompted accusations by critics of the Trump administration, with senior officials guilty of major security violations.
Here are details about what happened, what was revealed, how US officials responded, and what:
what happened?
“The world was discovered before 2pm ET [18:00 GMT] On March 15, the US was bombing Hooty targets across Yemen,” Goldberg wrote.
“But I knew two hours before the first bomb exploded that an attack might come, and the reason I knew was that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses texted me to the war plan at 11:44am. [15:44 GMT]. ”
This is what happened.
On March 11th, Goldberg received a connection request with a Signal named Michael Waltz, an encrypted messaging service. Michael “Mike” Waltz is the US National Security Advisor.
Goldberg wrote that he initially didn’t think this was the actual waltz he was trying to connect with. He thought he was someone pretending to be a waltz trying to get information from Goldberg.
However, the editor added that he had met Waltz in the past. “I didn’t think it was particularly strange that he was reaching out to me. I think it’s somewhat unusual,” Goldberg wrote, considering Trump’s controversial relationship with journalists.
Goldberg accepted the request, but he wrote that he hoped it was a real waltz.
On March 13th, Goldberg was added to a messaging group on the signal called “Houthi PC Small Group.” Based on his experience reporting on the US government, Goldberg speculated that PC here means the Principal Committee, a committee that includes the top cabinet leaders generally related to security issues.
Who was involved in group chat?
The group had a total of 18 members, Goldberg wrote. In addition to the waltz, the group included the following message:
The person identified as the Mar estimated by Goldberg was Marco “Antonio” Rubio. An individual identified as JD Vance, Trump’s vice president. The person Goldberg estimated to be called TG was the US director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard in the US. An account named Scott B, perhaps Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent, “or the person who is supporting his identity,” writes Goldberg. A user called Pete Hegses, the Secretary of Defense. He is probably called John Ratcliffe, director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Another user named Brian. Goldberg did not mention who this was. Brian Hughes is a national security board spokesman, and Brian McCormack is Waltz’s Chief of Staff. It is unclear whether Brian in the group is one of them. Someone identified as the “SM” that Goldberg estimated to be Homeland Security Adviser Stephen Miller. The individual identified as Joe Kent is the name of a Trump candidate to run the National Center for Counterterrorism.
What exactly did the military chat reveal?
The chat began on March 13 with Waltz being the established team “for Houthis coordination” and his lieutenant briefing “The Tiger team from Deputies/Agency Chief of Staff will send it out later tonight following this morning from the sit room meeting for action items.” A sit room, or situation room, is the White House intelligence reporting management facility that is informed of up-to-date information about the military or political situation.
Waltz then asked the chat members to list contacts from the team to coordinate with Waltz’s team the following day, and group members began to name individuals from the team.
At 8:05am (12:05pm GMT) on March 14th, Waltz wrote: A high-sided inbox refers to a classified communications system.
The message also appeared to show Vance in a discrepancy with the approach to Yemen, which appears to be pushing by Hegus and Waltz. “I think we’re making mistakes,” an account named Vance wrote on March 14th.
“Three percent of US trade is carried out through Suez. 40 percent of European trade exists,” the account wrote in the message.
The Vance account added: “I don’t know how inconsistent this is with his message in Europe right now. There’s a strong argument that we’ll delay this for a month.”
Goldberg also wrote that the group received a message from Ratcliffe that “it could be interpreted as related to the actual Intelligence Reporting Agency and the current Intelligence Reporting Agency.”
The Atlantic editor added that Hegseth responded to Vance’s concerns and acknowledged them, but delaying the surgery “1) this leaks, and we look indecisive.
Hegseth added: “You can manage both. You’re ready to do it. If you have a final vote, and if there’s no vote, I think you should.”
The Waltz also sounded a message about trade figures and the limited capabilities of the European Navy.
The Vance account said, “If you think we should do that, go. I hate bailing out Europe again.” In response, the Hegseth account said, “VP: fully shares the disgust of European freeloads. That’s pathetic.”
On March 15th, at 11:44am (8:44 GMT), the Hegseth account posted a “team update.” Goldberg did not reveal details of the update in his article. He said that if the US enemy saw these details it could harm the US military and intelligence agents.
However, Goldberg added that the Hegseth message contains operational details of the March 15 attack, including what targets, including individuals, should be hit, the weapons to use, and the sequence of events that follow.
Goldberg waited in the supermarket car park to see if the attack actually took place at the point where Hegses had planned in his message. They wrote that in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, Goldberg found it through X.
The strike killed at least 53 people, including children, and injured others.
What did Goldberg do?
Goldberg ended the group chat, sent Waltz a message about the signal, and sent some US officials questions about whether the group was genuine and whether it included officials who knew Goldberg was included.
Goldberg wrote that Vance spokesman William Martin wrote that despite the impressions produced by the message, Vance was in perfect alignment with Trump. “Vice President Vance is clearly a supporter of the administration’s foreign policy,” Martin said, according to a Goldberg article.
How did US government officials respond?
National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes responded in a statement. “This looks like a real message chain, and we’re reviewing how careless numbers have been added to the chain.
“This thread is a demonstration of deep and thoughtful policy coordination among senior officials. The continued success of Operation Houthi shows that there was no threat to the military or national security.”
Hegseth told reporters Monday:
US State Department spokesman Tammy Bruce declined to comment on the issue at a press conference Monday.
Trump was also faced scandal at a White House event in Louisiana on Monday. “I don’t know anything about it,” Trump said, adding that he wasn’t a huge Atlantic fan. He appears to have confused the violations about his attempts to overturn the US attacks on Yemen.
Is this a violation of spying?
Goldberg wrote that, citing this to several national security lawyers Waltz interviewed the Atlantic, could have violated the spying practice.
This law was first enacted in 1917 and is a crime to convey information intended to interfere with the operations of the US military. Goldberg does not have the security clearance needed to view confidential information.
Democrats are asking for this to be investigated.
“If House Republicans are serious about keeping America safe, they must join Democrats in this fast, serious and substantive investigation into this unacceptable, irresponsible national security violation,” said Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of the US minority, in a statement.
Delaware Senator Chris Koons wrote in his X account:
Jeffrey Goldberg’s Atlantic report calls for a quick and thorough investigation. If President Trump’s senior adviser actually uses a non-secure non-governmental system to discuss and communicate detailed war plans, it is a shocking violation of the standard of sharing…
– Senator Chris Coons (@chriscoons) March 24, 2025
Has the US accidentally leaked military secrets before?
yes.
In July 2023, a Financial Times report said millions of sensitive US military emails had been sent to Mali for many years. This was due to a typo, as the sender was entering “.ml”, a Mali domain, instead of “.mil”, a US military domain.
According to a Financial Times report, these emails included tax information, travel details and passwords for top officers.
Research website BellingCat revealed in 2021 that military forces at US bases in Europe remember complex security protocols and experts using publicly accessible applications and websites such as Quizlet, Chegg Prep and Cram. BellingCat investigators were able to access these websites by visiting these websites and searching for terms related to nuclear-based power.
Source link
