National Security Advisor Michael Waltz speaks at the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, March 7, 2025.
Washington is buzzing over a major security breach that saw the editor of The Atlantic magazine, Jeffrey Goldberg, mistakenly added to a Signal group chat that included US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, VP JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz. The group coordinated a war plan and sent real-time operational details about US strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, sharing classified information on an external app without noticing that Goldberg was on the chat.
The account seemingly associated with Vance wrote: “If you think we should do it let’s go. I just hate bailing Europe out again,” with Hegseth’s apparent account replying, “I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It's PATHETIC.” But Vance’s account also suggested that US strikes on the Houthis were a “mistake.” “I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now,” the account explained.
Was it genuine? Yes, a spokesperson for the National Security Council confirmed that the exchange was authentic. In a statement Monday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also appeared to confirm the story but said at the time that US President Donald Trump remained confident in his national security team.
Still, Waltz may have broken the law by including Goldberg, and the use of Signal for official communications may have violated the Espionage Act. Both Republican and Democratic members of Congress condemned the mistake, with Democrats calling for Waltz to be dismissed and demanding an investigation.
When he first heard about the incident from reporters, Trump appeared unconcerned, quipping that he wasn’t a big fan of The Atlantic. But later, White House officials said an investigation was underway and that Trump would decide Waltz’s fate in the next day or two as he took in reports of the incident.
When asked about the chat on Monday, Hegseth referred to Goldberg as a “discredited, so-called journalist,” adding that “Nobody was texting war plans and that's all I have to say about that.”