Journalist Added to Signal Group Chat Shares Specific Attack Plans Texted After Hegseth Denied War Plans Were Shared

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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday that no war plans were texted in the Signal group chat formed by top Trump administration officials. On Wednesday, The Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg, who was inadvertently added to the group, released the texts seemingly showing otherwise.

Goldberg recalled how different Trump officials rejected the allegations made in his article, downplaying the importance of the discussions. It noted that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said "there was no classified material that was shared in that Signal group," and that CIA director John Ratcliffe said "my communications, to be clear, in the Signal message group were entirely permissible and lawful and did not include classified information." President Donald Trump, on his end, said "it wasn't classified information."

In this context, Goldberg said that the refusal presented a dilemma, as the outlet doesn't tend to publish information about military operations if it could jeopardize the lives of U.S. personnel. However, the statements by top officials "have led us to believe that people should see the texts in order to reach their own conclusions," he added.

"There is a clear public interest in disclosing the sort of information that Trump advisers included in nonsecure communications channels, especially because senior administration figures are attempting to downplay the significance of the messages that were shared."

The outlet went on to detail that is asked several agencies if they objected to the chats being published. Many didn't answer, but White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration did. The outlet went ahead anyway.

The chats include several updates from Mike Waltz and Pete Hegseth, confirming the final approval of the mission and the different attacks launched. Shortly after the first batch of texts were sent, Vice President J.D. Vance texted "I will say a prayer for victory."

The texts also include confirmation of a successful attack against "their top missile guy." "we had positive ID of him walking into his girlfriend's building and it's now collapsed," Waltz said. The Houthi-run Yemeni health ministry reported that at least 53 people died as a result of the attacks.

Goldberg left the chat shortly after confirming its veracity and a message from Hegseth confirming that strikes would continue: "Great job all. More strikes ongoing for hours tonight, and will provide full initial report tomorrow. But on time, on target, and good readouts so far."