The Donald Trump administration’s national security team accidentally leaked highly sensitive war plans to a journalist, exposing a major security breach in their communication practices.
What Happened: On Monday, Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, revealed that he was inadvertently added to a Signal group chat discussing imminent military strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.
The group purportedly included Michael Waltz, the national security adviser, Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, and other high-ranking officials, including an account that appeared to represent Vice President JD Vance, who shared operational details about the upcoming attack.
Goldberg was added to the group by Hegseth.
The person in the chat identified as Vance appeared to balk at the idea of helping European allies. He wrote, “I just hate bailing Europe out again.”
See Also: Trump Will Sign An Order To Dismantle The Department Of Education On Thursday: Report
Goldberg also received detailed information about weapons packages, targets, and the timing of the strikes two hours before they occurred, courtesy of the group chat.
Despite his initial skepticism about the chat’s authenticity, the journalist realized its legitimacy when the attacks unfolded as described in the messages.
Surprisingly, even after leaving the chat, Goldberg said that no one seemed to notice that an unauthorized person was included in the chat.
When he sent emails to these officials to verify the authenticity of the chat and ask if Signal was used to share "sensitive information" regularly, National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes responded, confirming that the Signal group was real.
Meanwhile, William Martin, a spokesperson for Vice President Vance, sought to dispel any notion of discord, asserting that the vice president remains fully aligned with the president.
This came after Goldberg noted that in the Signal chat, Vance expressed reservations about the timing and potential economic impact of the strikes.
Why It Matters: The use of a commercial messaging app for sensitive military discussions potentially violates several provisions of the Espionage Act and federal records laws, Goldberg noted.
National security experts and lawyers consulted for the story said that such communications should occur only through approved government channels, not on personal devices or commercial apps like Signal.
Following the publication of the report, Former National Security Adviser John Bolton criticized Trump officials saying, "If you think Signal is equivalent to U.S. government secure telecommunications, think again."
Hillary Clinton, who was repeatedly targeted by Trump to be jailed over her use of a private email server for official government business, also took to X saying, "You have got to be kidding me."
Hegseth was asked to comment on the report by a Fox News reporter. In response, he attacked Goldberg saying, "You are talking about a deceitful, highly discredited so-called journalist."
Tim Walz (D-Minn), former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) also criticized the officials.
When a reporter asked President Trump to comment on it, he said, “I don’t know anything about it. I’m not a big fan of The Atlantic … You’re saying that they had what?”
He went on to say that this was the first time he had heard about such an incident taking place.
Read Next:
Image via Shutterstock
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
© 2025 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
