The Trump administration is in hot water after a journalist was reportedly informed of war plans ahead of an attack against Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen. The journalist claims the plans were shared in a messaging group. However, Trump administration officials say the incident was a mistake.
These details were reported by the US magazine The Atlantic on Monday (March 24), citing the White House.
In a report on Monday, The Atlantic's editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg stated that on March 13, he was unexpectedly invited to a chat group on the Signal messaging app. In this group, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz tasked his deputy, Alex Wong, with forming a 'Tiger Team' for a US attack against the Houthis.
Trump announced the attack on Yemen on March 15. However, Jeffry claims he received information about this attack earlier through the Signal group.
In a report posted online on Monday, the magazine stated that President Donald Trump's top national security officials, including the Secretary of Defense, texted war plans for an impending military strike in Yemen in a secure messaging app group chat that also included The Atlantic's editor-in-chief.
US President Donald Trump launched a large-scale military attack against the Houthis in Yemen on March 15 in response to attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and warned Iran, the Houthis' main supporter, that it should immediately stop supporting the group.
Hours before the attack began, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth allegedly posted operational details about the attack plan in the messaging group. According to Goldberg, this included information about the targets, the weapons the US would deploy, and the sequence of the attack.
Goldberg wrote that Vice President JD Vance, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and senior National Security Council officials were also part of the chat group.
When questioned by reporters at the White House about this, Trump said he knew nothing about the incident.
"I know nothing about it. I'm not a very big fan of The Atlantic," Trump said.
A White House official later stated that an investigation into the incident is underway and that Trump has been briefed on the matter.
Meanwhile, a National Security Council official said in a statement, "We are reviewing how this incident inadvertently occurred."
On the other hand, Hegseth has denied sharing war plans in the group chat. "Nobody texted war plans," he told reporters on Monday during an official trip to Hawaii.
Responding to Hegseth's denial in an interview on CNN late Monday night, Goldberg said, "No. That's false. He was texting war plans."
Democratic lawmakers reacted swiftly to this blunder by Trump administration officials. They strongly condemned the incident, calling it a breach of US national security and a violation of law that should be investigated by Congress.
(Source: Reuters)
