The editor in chief of The Atlantic has published the full Signal chat between senior U.S. national security officials about an attack on Yemen’s Houthis after the White House tried to “downplay the significance” of its breach of national security.
When he published his first article on March 24 editor Jeffrey Goldberg originally withheld – on the basis of his own judgment about national security – some of the sensitive attack details on the Signal group chat that he was accidentally added to.
Trump administration officials confirmed the group conversation but claimed no classified information was shared on the messaging app – not approved for sharing secure military information – and tried to focus attention on the mistake of including Goldberg in the chat.
The Signal messages show that Hegseth provided details of the aircraft, weapons, and precise timings of warplane launches and missile firings — before the pilots flying those attacks against Yemen’s Houthis were airborne.
Trump himself described it as a lapse that “turned out not to be a serious one,” claiming it was “the only glitch in two months” of his administration, and expressed continued support for national security adviser Mike Waltz who had mistakenly invited Goldberg.
Trump officials including Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Waltz attacked Goldberg’s credibility and on March 26 White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt tried to frame the narrative as one of trust.
“Do you trust the Secretary of Defense, who was nominated for this role?” (Previously, Hesgeth was a Fox News show host.)
“Or do you trust Jeffrey Goldberg, who is a registered Democrat and an anti-Trump sensationalist reporter?”
On March 26, Goldberg published full details of the Signal group chat, saying:
“The statements by Hegseth, Gabbard [Tulsi Gabbard, US Director of National Inteliigence], Ratcliffe [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. 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.”
The Atlantic was founded in 1857 to promote the “free exchange of ideas across ideological lines was crucial to the great American experiment.”
Details of attack plans on Signal – The Atlantic
Three sensitive messages on Signal – BBC
Atlantic publishes Signal messages – AP
Atlantic editor publishes messages after White House denials – BBC
Trump and his intelligence chiefs play down Signal leak – BBC
White House strategy dealing with Signal – BBC
Signal updates – New York Times
Cross signals – BBC updates
What is Signal – BBC
Jeffrey Goldberg – The Atlantic
