Top US government officials including the Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth have been accused of a "stunning" breach of military intelligence, after a journalist was accidentally sent American war plans for strikes in Yemen.
In an article published by the Atlantic on Monday, Jeffrey Goldberg, the magazine's editor-in-chief, revealed that he was added to a group chat on the Signal messaging app earlier this month.
As a result, he was able to read messages from senior national security officials about forthcoming attacks against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, including detailed information about the targets and the weapons that would be used.
Shortly afterwards, sites across Yemen were bombed on 15 March. The US has carried out airstrikes against the Houthis since the militant group began targeting commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea in November 2023.
Goldberg has said that he will not publish messages from the group chat that could pose a risk to the US' national security.
However, in the Atlantic article, the journalist shared some general comments posted in the private group, whose members included Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's director of national intelligence.
The published messages first discuss whether the strikes should go ahead. They then show how members of the group — following the start of the military operation — exchanged celebratory messages.
The US National Security Council has confirmed that the text chain "appears to be authentic".
'One of the most egregious failures of operational security'
In response to Goldberg's revelation, politicians and analysts expressed their dismay at the fact that senior figures in the Trump administration were discussing war plans on Signal.
National security officials normally discuss military activities via the government's own systems in sensitive compartmented information facilities (SCIFs).
“We’re very concerned about it and we’ll be looking into it on a bipartisan basis," said Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican senator who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Meanwhile, the senior New York Democrat politician Chuck Schumer called it "one of the most stunning breaches of military intelligence I have read about in a very, very long time".
His colleague Jack Reed, from Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the messaging chat on Yemen could have risked the lives of US military personnel.
"The carelessness shown by Trump’s Cabinet is stunning and dangerous. I will be seeking answers from the Administration immediately," he added.
Hegseth slams journalist while Trump denies knowledge
The National Security Council said in a statement that it was investigating how a journalist’s number was added to the chain in the Signal group chat.
In his first comments on the matter, Hegseth attacked Goldberg for being what he called a “discredited so-called journalist”. He did not shed light on why Signal was being used to discuss the sensitive operation or how Goldberg ended up on the message chain.
“Nobody was texting war plans and that’s all I have to say about that,” Hegseth claimed in an exchange with reporters after landing in Hawaii on Monday as he began his first trip to the Indo-Pacific as defence secretary.
In a statement late on Monday, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said the president still has the “utmost confidence” in his national security team.
Earlier on Monday, Donald Trump told reporters: “I don’t know anything about it. You’re telling me about it for the first time.”
