After a day of back-and-forth about whether war plans shared with journalist Jeffrey Goldberg were classified, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic published parts of the Signal group chat that he had access to.
On Monday, Goldberg published a major report about Trump’s National Security Adviser, Mike Waltz, accidentally adding him to a group chat where top U.S. national security officials discussed plans to strike Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen earlier this month.
Since the report came out, the White House and pro-Trump media have worked hard to defend the situation, even though it might involve legal issues because of a law Trump passed in response to Hillary Clinton’s email controversy. After several attempts to explain the situation, Trump’s supporters eventually stuck to the claim that Goldberg was not given any classified information.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was firm when he told reporters on Monday, “Nobody was texting war plans. And that’s all I have to say about that.”
At a Tuesday press event, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked Trump if he planned to “change any of the practices after a reporter was added to a group chat about attacks on Yemen.” Trump, after praising the success of the operation, responded, “There was no classified information, as I understand it.”
Goldberg later explained why he decided not to share certain sensitive information, like the name of an active CIA agent. But Trump’s claim that the information was not classified gave Goldberg the confidence to release what he had seen:
“As we wrote on Monday, much of the conversation in the ‘Houthi PC small group’ was about the timing and reasons for the attacks on the Houthis, and there were comments from Trump officials about the failures of America’s European allies. But on the day of the attack—Saturday, March 15—the discussion shifted to the operation itself.”
“At 11:44 a.m. eastern time, Hegseth posted in the chat, in all caps, ‘TEAM UPDATE:'”
The text that followed read: “TIME NOW (1144et): Weather is FAVORABLE. Just CONFIRMED w/CENTCOM we are a GO for mission launch.” CENTCOM, or Central Command, is the U.S. military’s command in the Middle East. Hegseth’s message continued:
“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))”
On Wednesday, Goldberg, along with The Atlantic contributor Shane Harris, provided further context:
“Let us pause here for a moment to underscore a point. This Signal message shows that the U.S. secretary of defense texted a group that included a phone number unknown to him—Goldberg’s cellphone—at 11:44 a.m. This was 31 minutes before the first U.S. warplanes launched, and two hours and one minute before a key target, the Houthi ‘Target Terrorist,’ was expected to be killed by these American aircraft. If this text had been received by someone hostile to American interests—or someone careless enough to share it on social media—the Houthis could have used the warning to prepare for the attack. The consequences for U.S. pilots could have been disastrous.”
Hegseth’s text continued:
“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.”
“MORE TO FOLLOW (per timeline)”
“We are currently clean on OPSEC”—that’s operational security.
“Godspeed to our Warriors.”
Soon after, Vice President J.D. Vance texted the group, “I will say a prayer for victory.”
Looking at the details shared in the chat, it’s hard to deny that these texts describe what could be considered “war plans” or classified information. It highlights just how serious the security breach was.
