 "Trump administration scrambles after journalist added to sensitive military group chat")
A US journalist was unintentionally included in a group conversation where Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, and other high officials discussed planned operations against Yemen’s Houthi rebels, the White House acknowledged on Monday.
President Donald Trump launched the strikes on March 15, but in a surprising security breach, The Atlantic magazine’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg revealed that he had received hours of advance knowledge via the Signal group conversation.
“The message thread that was reported appears to be authentic, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain,” National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said.
The White House stated that Trump “continues to have the utmost confidence in his national security team,” following his earlier statement that he knew nothing about the problem.
Hegseth, a former Fox News anchor with little expertise operating a large organisation like the Pentagon, denied responsibility for the security lapse when he talked with reporters late Monday.
He instead attacked Goldberg, claiming that “nobody was texting war plans,” despite the White House acknowledging the breach.
Additionally, Hegseth referred to Goldberg as “a deceitful and highly discredited, so-called journalist who’s made a profession of peddling hoaxes time and time again.”
Hegseth transmitted information on the strikes, including “targets, weapons the US would be deploying, and attack sequencing,” to the group chat, according to Goldberg.
Goldberg first questioned the Signal group’s legitimacy because he didn’t believe “the national-security leadership of the United States would communicate on Signal about imminent war plans.”
Impact Shorts
View All“According to the lengthy Hegseth text, the first detonations in Yemen would be felt two hours hence, at 1:45 pm eastern time,” Goldberg wrote – a timeline that was borne out on the ground in Yemen.
The leak could have been highly damaging if Goldberg had publicized details of the plan in advance, but he did not do so even after the fact.
The journalist said he was added to the group chat two days earlier, and received messages from other top government officials designating representatives who would work on the issue.
On March 14, a person identified as Vance expressed doubts about carrying out the strikes, saying he hated “bailing Europe out again,” as countries there were more affected by Houthi attacks on shipping than the United States.
‘Stunning and dangerous’
Group chat contributors identified as National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Hegseth both sent messages arguing only Washington had the capability to carry out the strikes, with the latter official saying he shared Vance’s “loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC.”
And a person identified as “S M” – possibly Trump advisor Stephen Miller – argued that “if the US successfully restores freedom of navigation at great cost there needs to be some further economic gain extracted in return.”
As he spoke to reporters Monday Hegseth dodged questions about the leak, in which highly sensitive material was not only shared with a reporter but also on a commercial app rather than in secure military channels reserved for such communications.
The security breach provoked outrage among Democrats, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer describing it as “one of the most stunning breaches of military intelligence I have read about in a very, very long time” and calling for a full investigation.
Senator Jack Reed also slammed the leak, saying: “The carelessness shown by President Trump’s cabinet is stunning and dangerous.”
And Hillary Clinton – who was repeatedly attacked by Trump for using a private email server while she was secretary of state – posted the Atlantic article on X along with the message: “You have got to be kidding me.”
Houthi attacks
The Houthi rebels, who have controlled much of Yemen for more than a decade, are part of the “axis of resistance” of pro-Iran groups staunchly opposed to Israel and the United States.
They have launched scores of drone and missile attacks at ships passing Yemen in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden during the Gaza war, saying they were carried out in solidarity with Palestinians.
The Houthis’ campaign crippled the vital route, which normally carries about 12 percent of world shipping traffic, forcing many companies into a costly detour around the tip of southern Africa.
The US began targeting the Houthis in response under the previous administration of president Joe Biden, and has launched repeated rounds of strikes on Houthi targets, some with British support.
Trump has vowed to “use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective,” citing the Houthis’ threats against Red Sea shipping, and US strikes have continued over the past 10 days.
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