In a bombshell expose, The Atlantic magazine on Wednesday laid out how senior Trump administration officials inadvertently leaked sensitive US airstrike plans against Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen. The information had been accidentally transmitted to The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, on the messaging application Signal.
The screenshots, which belonged to a chat group titled “Houthi PC small group,” contained talks about strike schedules and the planes used. The March 15 conversation was the first recorded attack against the Houthis since Donald Trump became president in January.
Among the 19 group members were National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, who confessed to accidentally including Goldberg, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Vice President JD Vance.
The Accidental Exposure
The Atlantic initially broke the news on Monday, pointing out the enormous security breach. The leak emerged after Hegseth dismissed that officials had been “texting war plans,” leading the magazine to publish the chat logs.
“The statements by Hegseth, (national intelligence director Tulsi) Gabbard, (CIA director John) Ratcliffe, and Trump – combined with the assertions made by numerous administration officials that we are lying about the content of the Signal texts – have led us to believe that people should see the texts in order to reach their own conclusions,” The Atlantic reported.
Inside the Leaked Conversations
The screenshots show that Jeffrey Goldberg was added to the Signal group on March 11 by Waltz and subsequently altered settings so that messages would be erased after a week, later increasing it to four weeks.
On March 13, at 4:28 PM, Waltz texted: “Team – establishing a principles group for coordination on Houthis, particularly over the next 72 hours.” The chat ensured that the “principals group” was senior officials coordinating national security issues.
BREAKING: Jeffrey Goldberg from the Atlantic has released the entire chat of the Signal group where the highest U.S. officials discuss war plans.
The Atlantic redacted the name of a CIA agent. They care more about his life than Ratcliffe does.
Tulsi Gabbard lied under oath. pic.twitter.com/TEhIAMLWBf
— CALL TO ACTIVISM (@CalltoActivism) March 26, 2025
Attendees quickly assigned their delegates, with Vice President Vance selecting Andy Baker and Marco Rubio designating Mike Needham to represent the State Department.
By the following morning, 8:05 AM, Waltz warned the team: “Team, you should have a statement of conclusions with taskings per the Presidents [sic] guidance this morning in your high side inboxes.” High-side inboxes are the classified email boxes of US government employees.
The debates came to a heated point when Vance raised concerns about the economic and geopolitical implications of the strikes, “There is a real risk that the public doesn’t understand this or why it’s necessary. The strongest reason to do this is, as POTUS said, to send a message. But I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now.”
Debating the Timing of the Attack
Trump’s National Counterterrorism Center director nominee, Joe Kent, recommended delaying the strike: “There is nothing time sensitive driving the time line. We’ll have the exact same options in a month.”
CIA Director Ratcliffe repeated Kent’s position, adding that delaying the strike would not delay intelligence gathering. But Defense Secretary Hegseth did not agree, threatening leaks and losing control over timing, “Waiting a few weeks or a month does not fundamentally change the calculus. 2 immediate risks on waiting: 1) this leaks, and we look indecisive; 2) Israel takes an action first – or Gaza cease fire falls apart – and we don’t get to start this on our own terms. We can manage both.”
Hegseth then called for immediate action, positing that the strike was about “restoring freedom of navigation, a core national interest, and reestablishing deterrence, which Biden cratered.”
The Final Decision and Execution
As the debate went on, Waltz offered statistics on shipping routes, making the point that European fleets were not in a position to counter Houthi missile attacks. “So whether it’s now or several weeks from now, it will have to be the United States that reopens these shipping lanes,” he wrote.
At 11:44 AM March 15, Hegseth confirmed the launch: “TIME NOW (1144 et): Weather is FAVORABLE. Just CONFIRMED w/CENTCOM we are a GO for mission launch.”
He then laid out the attack schedule:
· 12:15 PM: First F-18s launch
· 1:45 PM: Initial strike window opens
· 2:10 PM: Second wave of F-18s launch
· 2:15 PM: First bombs drop
· 3:36 PM: Second strike begins, with sea-based Tomahawk missile launches
At 12:13 PM, Vice President Vance replied gravely: “I will say a prayer for victory.”
The Fallout and Aftermath
At 1:48 PM, Waltz revealed that the initial strike had effectively taken out a critical Houthi missile specialist, “The first target – their top missile guy – we had positive ID of him walking into his girlfriend’s building and it’s now collapsed.”
Vance responded, “Excellent.”
At 5:20 PM, Hegseth complimented the operation, “Great job all. More strikes ongoing for hours tonight, and will provide full initial report tomorrow. But on time, on target, and good readouts so far.”
Chief of Staff Susie Wiles added, “Kudos to all – most particularly those in theater and CENTCOM! Really great. God bless.”
Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East peace talks advisor, replied with a series of emojis, such as praying hands and American flags. Tulsi Gabbard closed the thread by saying, “Great work and effects!”
Consequences of the Leak
The leak has severe national security implications regarding the employment of commercially obtained messaging apps in classified discussions. Experts advise that such blunders undermine military strategy and diplomacy.
The Trump administration still needs to officially confront the full breadth of the violation. In the meantime, the release of The Atlantic with the chat logs has stoked the controversy on journalistic ethics in outing government mistakes.
While fallout rages, the episode has served as an eye-opening demonstration of the peril of online correspondence in the senior levels of governmental operations.
