(L-R) US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz speaks with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as US President Donald Trump meets with French President Emmanuel Macron in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 24, 2025.
Ludovic Marin | Afp | Getty Images
The Atlantic on Wednesday published the full text thread from the Trump administration’s Signal group that accidentally included a prominent journalist in discussions of pending U.S. military strikes.
Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic’s editor in chief, had withheld some of the contents of the thread in his bombshell report Monday revealing that he had been looped in on plans to carry out attacks on Houthi targets in Yemen.
Goldberg noted in that report that some of the texts contained information that “could conceivably have been used to harm American military and intelligence personnel,” had they been read by a U.S. adversary.
But Goldberg and his outlet decided to publish the full texts after President Donald Trump and others in the group chat declared Tuesday that none of the messages were classified, and said that they did not contain “war plans,” as The Atlantic’s initial headline stated.
The texts from the “Houthi PC small group” published Wednesday morning are unredacted, save for the name of one CIA intelligence officer, The Atlantic said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in an X post homed in on the magazine’s decision to describe the thread as “Attack Plans,” rather than war plans, in its latest headline.
“The Atlantic has conceded: these were NOT war plans,'” Leavitt wrote.
“This entire story was another hoax written by a Trump-hater who is well-known for his sensationalist spin.”
Goldberg responded directly later Wednesday morning: “I don’t even know what that means … What are they arguing, that an attack is different than a war?”
“She’s playing some sort of weird semantic game,” he said in an MSNBC interview.
The Trump administration itself has confirmed the veracity of the Signal group.
Director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who were included in it, said in Senate testimony Tuesday that the texts were not classified. Trump later said the same: “It wasn’t classified information.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday, “Nobody was texting war plans. And that’s all I have to say about that.”
Trump’s national security advisor Michael Waltz, who reportedly invited Goldberg to the group, suggested in remarks on Tuesday that somehow the journalist may have “deliberately” added himself to it.
Waltz provided no evidence for the claim, but said in a Fox News interview that he discussed the matter with Elon Musk, adding, “We’ve got the best technical minds looking at how this happened.”
Trump, Waltz, Leavitt and others have peppered their remarks with personal attacks on Goldberg.
Goldberg wrote Wednesday that the statements from Trump and his officials “have led us to believe that people should see the texts in order to reach their own conclusions.”
“There is a clear public interest in disclosing the sort of information that Trump advisers included in nonsecure communications channels, especially because senior administration figures are attempting to downplay the significance of the messages that were shared,” he wrote.
The newly revealed texts show Hegseth sharing operational details about the pending Houthi attacks about two hours before the first strike occurred on March 15.
He gave the group — which included Goldberg — information about the timing of the attacks and the weapons to be used, writing:
TEAM UPDATE:
TIME NOW (1144et): Weather is FAVORABLE. Just CONFIRMED w/CENTCOM we are a GO for mission launch.
“1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package)”
“1345: ‘Trigger Based’ F-18 1st Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME – also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s)”
“1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package)”
“1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier ‘Trigger Based’ targets)”
“1536 F-18 2nd Strike Starts – also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched.”
Goldberg in Wednesday’s report wrote: “If this text had been received by someone hostile to American interests—or someone merely indiscreet, and with access to social media—the Houthis would have had time to prepare for what was meant to be a surprise attack on their strongholds.”
“The consequences for American pilots could have been catastrophic,” he wrote.
Vice President JD Vance, who was also on the Signal thread, wrote on X after the texts were published, “It’s very clear Goldberg oversold what he had.”
Democrats have reacted to The Atlantic’s reporting with furious indignation. Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., have both called on Hegseth to resign.
“This is what happens when you put unqualified people in important jobs where lives are on the line,” Kelly said in a statement.
Trump suggested Tuesday that no one would be fired for using Signal to discuss the attack plans, or for mistakenly adding Goldberg to the sensitive discussions.
“We’ve pretty much looked into it,” he said.
This is developing news. Please check back for updates.
