The Atlantic Publishes Trump Attack Plans After Administration Denies Contents of Group Chat
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After days of debate over whether information mistakenly shared with Jeffrey Goldberg by top Trump officials contained classified war plans, The Atlantic published new messages from the now-infamous Signal group chat that it previously omitted from its reporting.
On Monday, Goldberg dropped a bombshell report revealing that Trump National Security Adviser Mike Waltz accidentally added him to a group chat in which the principals committee – the heads of the top American national security agencies — discussed plans to strike Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen earlier this month, hours before the attack took place.
The White House, along with pro-Trump media figures, has since bent over backward to defend the massive security breach, which could potentially involve crimes, given the law that Trump enacted during his first administration in response to Hillary Clinton’s email server controversy. After fits and starts and various attempts at explanations, Trump surrogates eventually landed on an insistence that no classified information was shared with Goldberg.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was defiant in telling a reporter Monday, “Nobody was texting war plans. And that’s all I have to say about that.”
During a Tuesday press event, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked Trump if he was going to “change any of the practices after a reporter was added to group chat about attacks on Yemen.” After touting the operation’s success, Trump said, “There was no classified information, as I understand it.”
In light of the administration’s denials, Goldberg said in an interview he would consider publishing the messages he had omitted from the original story in an effort to protect national security. On Wednesday, he did just that, writing in a piece written by Goldberg and The Atlantic’s national security writer Shane Harris:
As we wrote on Monday, much of the conversation in the “Houthi PC small group” concerned the timing and rationale of attacks on the Houthis, and contained remarks by Trump-administration officials about the alleged shortcomings of America’s European allies. But on the day of the attack—Saturday, March 15—the discussion veered toward the operational.
At 11:44 a.m. eastern time, Hegseth posted in the chat, in all caps, “TEAM UPDATE:”
The text beneath this began, “TIME NOW (1144et): Weather is FAVORABLE. Just CONFIRMED w/CENTCOM we are a GO for mission launch.” Centcom, or Central Command, is the military’s combatant command for the Middle East. The Hegseth text continues:
“1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package)”
“1345: ‘Trigger Based’ F-18 1st Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME – also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s)”
The authors took a beat to provide some context:
Let us pause here for a moment to underscore a point. This Signal message shows that the U.S. secretary of defense texted a group that included a phone number unknown to him—Goldberg’s cellphone—at 11:44 a.m. This was 31 minutes before the first U.S. warplanes launched, and two hours and one minute before the beginning of a period in which a primary target, the Houthi “Target Terrorist,” was expected to be killed by these American aircraft. If this text had been received by someone hostile to American interests—or someone merely indiscreet, and with access to social media—the Houthis would have had time to prepare for what was meant to be a surprise attack on their strongholds. The consequences for American pilots could have been catastrophic.
The Hegseth text then continued:
“1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package)”
“1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier ‘Trigger Based’ targets)”
“1536 F-18 2nd Strike Starts – also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched.”
“MORE TO FOLLOW (per timeline)”
“We are currently clean on OPSEC”—that is, operational security.
“Godspeed to our Warriors.”Shortly after, Vice President J. D. Vance texted the group, “I will say a prayer for victory.”
Reading the specifics shared makes it difficult to see how these aren’t fairly described as “war plans” or “classified,” and puts in stark relief just how major a security lapse this entire endeavor was.
More on the Trump Admin War Plan Leak:
- Scott Jennings Gives Trump Officials Rave Reviews After National Security Leak: ‘Refreshing Thing for the Government’ To Admit Mistake
- Trump Just Handed His Biggest Enemy in Media a Slam Dunk
- But How Did It End Up In Your Phone?’ Laura Ingraham Grills Trump NatSec Advisor Over Leak ‘That’s a Pretty Big Problem’
- Jeffrey Goldberg Says He’s Considering Releasing More of Signal Chat — As Trump Officials Deny Under Oath That It Was Classified
- JD Vance Criticizes Trump in Leaked War Plans Group Chat: ‘Not Sure the President Is Aware How Inconsistent This Is’
- Trump Officials Stumped At Hearing When Asked If Goldberg Can Post Bombshell Texts Since They Claim No Classified Info
