- National security officials inadvertently added Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg to a Signal group chat discussing military operations against Houthis in Yemen.
- Officials maintain the chat contained no classified information or war plans, with Elon Musk offering technical experts to investigate how Goldberg was added.
- Republican and Democratic senators are asking for the inspector general to investigate the incident.
A Signal group chat involving top national security officials has caused major confusion and alarm among Americans this week after The Atlantic editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg was inadvertently added to the chat.
Goldberg published an Atlantic article Monday, titled “The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans,” and since then, the chat between high-ranking members of the Trump administration and the journalist has dominated the news cycle.
Contents of the group chat were released in full by The Atlantic on Wednesday, after President Donald Trump said nothing classified was discussed. The text shows coordination between intelligence agency heads, the Defense Department, State Department and others, and discusses the lead-up to airstrikes against Houthis in Yemen on March 15.
Senate Republicans and Democrats say they want more information on how the information was released. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who is chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said he would like the inspector general to investigate the leak and said that he and his Democratic counterpart, Ranking Member Jack Reed of Rhode Island, would send a letter asking the administration to speed up the investigation, according to CBS News.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt responds to questions
Responding to questions at a press briefing on Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president continues to have faith in those involved in the chat.
“What I can say definitively is what I just spoke to the president about, and he continues to have confidence in his national security team,” Leavitt said.
The mission successfully destroyed dozens of Houthi targets, weapons manufacturing facilities and advanced weapons storage locations. The attack also killed the Houthi drone chief, his deputy and dozens of others.
What did the Signal group discuss?
National Security Adviser Michael Waltz added Goldberg to the chat and proceeded to send a text asking for group members to “provide the best staff POC from your team for us to coordinate with over the next couple days and over the weekend.”
The State Department, the Department of Defense, the Treasury and three others provided staffers for the operation.
The next day, Waltz sent a message saying the staffers should have received information about their tasks in their “high side inboxes.”
Vice President JD Vance responded about 10 minutes later, proposing to delay the operation by a month, citing a spike in oil prices and inconsistencies with Trump’s message to Europe.
The chat also included National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Hegseth said the strikes were about “restoring freedom of navigation” and “reestablish(ing) deterrence.”
Waltz added that the job is ultimately up to the U.S. since “European navies do not have the capability to defend” themselves against Houthi attacks. Waltz also said he was working “with the DOD and the State to determine how to compile the cost associated and levy them on the Europeans.”
Thirty minutes after his original text, Vance tagged Hegseth, saying, “If you think we should do it let’s go. I just hate bailing Europe out again.”
At what appears to be about an hour later, Hegseth described details of the strike.
Goldberg left after group members celebrated the mission’s success.
Did the Signal chat contain classified information?
CIA Director John Ratcliffe said in a hearing Monday that his “communications in the Signal group chat were entirely permissible and lawful and did not include classified information.”
Similarly, Leavitt claimed on Wednesday that no classified material was sent in the chat. “There were no locations or sources or methods revealed and there were certainly no war plans discussed,” she said.
Leavitt added that the national security adviser Mike Waltz “has taken responsibility for this matter.”
In an X post on Tuesday morning, Waltz addressed the situation. “No locations. No sources & methods. NO WAR PLANS. Foreign partners had already been notified that strikes were imminent,” he said.
However, Leavitt added that the National Security Council and the White House Councils Office will be looking into how Goldberg was added to the group.
Elon Musk to investigate how Goldberg was added to the chat
At Wednesday’s White House press briefing, Leavitt said, “Elon Musk has offered to put his technical experts on this to figure out how this number was inadvertently added to the chat,” Leavitt said.
Appearing on Fox News, Waltz said, “It’s embarrassing, yes. We’re going to get to the bottom of it. We have — I just talked to Elon on the way here. We’ve got the best technical minds looking at how this happened.”