War plans drawn up by the Trump administration were leaked after a journalist was accidentally added to a group chat, according to incredible new reports.
Critics of Donald Trump have spent most of his time in office (over both terms) watching in disbelief as his unconventional approach and blatant disregard for the rules cause chaos and instability.
Yet including the editor of a news outlet in a top-secret chat detailing upcoming war plans is a bizarre step even by his standards.
That’s the claim being made by Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of the The Atlantic, who told yesterday how he had received a connection request on messaging app Signal from a user identifying himself as Michael Waltz. Goldberg insisted that he “did not assume that the request was from the actual Michael Waltz”, but accepted the connection request.
And, he claims, it turned out to be the real Michael Waltz, that is to say Donald Trump’s national security advisor. Having being added to the messaging service, Goldberg was later included in a group chat named “Houthi PC small group”.
And here’s where it gets really interesting. The chat is said to have included such high-profile administration members such as Vice-President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth.
Goldberg alleges that said group chat contained communication over military plans about airstrikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen, “including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying and attack sequencing”.
“The world found out shortly before 2 p.m. eastern time on March 15 that the United States was bombing Houthi targets across Yemen,” Goldberg explained.
“I, however, knew two hours before the first bombs exploded that the attack might be coming. The reason I knew this is that Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defence, had texted me the war plan at 11:44 a.m.”
Goldberg’s revelation prompted mass outcry, while President Trump initially told reporters that he wasn’t aware sensitive information had been shared.
“I don’t know anything about it. You’re telling me about it for the first time,” Trump said when asked, adding that The Atlantic was “not much of a magazine”.
Meanwhile, the National Security Council confirmed the chat was authentic, releasing a statement that said it was looking into how his number was added to the chain.
Spokesman Brian Hughes told the BBC: “At this time, the message thread that was reported appears to be authentic. We are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain.
“The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy co-ordination between senior officials.”
What do you make of the security error that allowed war plans to be leaked to a journalist? Let us know!
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