WASHINGTON—A journalist known for his critical pieces on President Donald Trump was inadvertently added to a national security group chat in which top Trump officials discussed airstrikes in Yemen, the White House confirmed on Monday afternoon.
“This appears to be an authentic message chain, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain,” said National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes. “The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials. The ongoing success of the Houthi operation demonstrates that there were no threats to troops or national security.”
The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg published a story on Monday morning alleging that he was added to a chat that included Vice President JD Vance, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and other members of Trump’s inner circle on March 15, as the national security team deliberated launching airstrikes on the Houthis.
A user bearing the name “Michael Waltz” added Goldberg as a Signal connection a few days before he was added to a chat, titled “Houthi PC small group.” Goldberg says that he was not sure whether the Signal chat members were actually members of the Trump administration, and he writes that he remained in the chat and observed the conversations that took place over the next several days.
Goldberg spent the next few days watching as Vance, Hegseth, Waltz, and others discussed the president, the airstrikes, international diplomacy, and more.
In one noteworthy exchange, the account labeled “JD Vance” messaged the rest of the group: “Team, I am out for the day doing an economic event in Michigan. But I think we are making a mistake…3 percent of US trade runs through the suez. 40 percent of European trade does. There is a real risk that the public doesn’t understand this or why it’s necessary. The strongest reason to do this is, as POTUS said, to send a message.”
“I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now,” the Vance account allegedly continued.
“There’s a further risk that we see a moderate to severe spike in oil prices,” he wrote. “I am willing to support the consensus of the team and keep these concerns to myself. But there is a strong argument for delaying this a month, doing the messaging work on why this matters, seeing where the economy is, etc.”
An account under the name “Joe Kent” then responded: “There is nothing time sensitive driving the time line. We’ll have the exact same options in a month,” according to Goldberg, who notes that Kent is Trump’s nominee to run the National Counterterrorism Center.
This was followed by a response from a user named “John Ratcliffe” — and that message, according to Goldberg, “contained information that might be interpreted as related to actual and current intelligence operations.”
Goldberg then says an account named “Pete Hegseth” messaged in the chat, directly addressing the Vance account.
“VP: I understand your concerns – and fully support you raising w/ POTUS,” that account wrote. “Important considerations, most of which are tough to know how they play out (economy, Ukraine peace, Gaza, etc). I think messaging is going to be tough no matter what – nobody knows who the Houthis are – which is why we would need to stay focused on: 1) Biden failed & 2) Iran funded.”
The Hegseth account argued that “waiting a few weeks or a month does not fundamentally change the calculus. 2 immediate risks on waiting: 1) this leaks, and we look indecisive; 2) Israel takes an action first – or Gaza cease fire falls apart – and we don’t get to start this on our own terms. We can manage both.”
“We are prepared to execute, and if I had final go or no go vote, I believe we should,” that account argued. “This [is] not about the Houthis. I see it as two things: 1) Restoring Freedom of Navigation, a core national interest; and 2) Reestablish deterrence, which Biden cratered. But, we can easily pause. And if we do, I will do all we can to enforce 100% OPSEC…I welcome other thoughts.”
After the Waltz account chimed in, adding perspective on trade figures, the Vance account said to the Hegseth account: “if you think we should do it let’s go. I just hate bailing Europe out again.”
JD Vance and Pete Hegseth (Brenda Bazan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The Hegseth account replied by emphasizing to the Vance account, “VP: I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC. But Mike is correct, we are the only ones on the planet (on our side of the ledger) who can do this. Nobody else even close. Question is timing. I feel like now is as good a time as any, given POTUS directive to reopen shipping lanes. I think we should go; but POTUS still retains 24 hours of decision space.”
Then came a message from a user named “S M,” which Goldberg believes stands for Stephen Miller, that read: “As I heard it, the president was clear: green light, but we soon make clear to Egypt and Europe what we expect in return. We also need to figure out how to enforce such a requirement. EG, if Europe doesn’t remunerate, then what? If the US successfully restores freedom of navigation at great cost there needs to be some further economic gain extracted in return.”
That message shut down the rest of the conversation, Goldberg wrote. The Atlantic editor-in-chief suggested that the messages are significant for a number of reasons, one of these being that Vance has not “deviated publicly from Trump’s position on virtually any issue.” The messages were sent privately, however, and appear to demonstrate the vice president’s willingness to agree with the consensus of the team after speaking his mind.
Vance spokesman Will Martin said in a statement Monday afternoon that Vance’s first priority is “always making sure that the President’s advisers are adequately briefing him on the substance of their internal deliberations.”
“Vice President Vance unequivocally supports this administration’s foreign policy,” Martin said. “The President and the Vice President have had subsequent conversations about this matter and are in complete agreement.”
In subsequent “Houthi PC small group” messages, the Hegseth account allegedly shared information containing details about upcoming strikes on Yemen, as well as information about weapons, targets, and attack sequencing. Goldberg said that he shared this information in his story to illustrate “the shocking recklessness of this Signal conversation.”
At this point, after seeing that the strikes had actually taken place and watching Waltz discuss them on television, Goldberg says that he decided the chat was real and removed himself from the group.
“No one in the chat had seemed to notice that I was there,” he wrote. “And I received no subsequent questions about why I left—or, more to the point, who I was.”
Goldberg says he emailed Waltz, Hegseth, Ratcliffe, Gabbard, and other officials, asking questions about the situation for his story: “Did they know that I was included in this group? Was I (on the off chance) included on purpose? If not, who did they think I was? Did anyone realize who I was when I was added, or when I removed myself from the group? Do senior Trump-administration officials use Signal regularly for sensitive discussions? Do the officials believe that the use of such a channel could endanger American personnel?”
It’s possible that Waltz thought he was adding top Trump trade negotiator Jaimeson Greer to the chat, since both Goldberg and Greer have the initials “JR.” Hughes declined to comment further at this point in time.
For now, the White House is highlighting the success of the Houthi operation — which, as Hughes said in his statement, “demonstrates that there were no threats to troops or national security.” And the White House is standing by the conversations between the officials as well, describing them as “deep and thoughtful policy coordination.”
“As President Trump said, the attacks on the Houthis have been highly successful and effective,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday. “President Trump continues to have the utmost confidence in his national security team, including National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.”
As for Trump himself, he told reporters on Monday afternoon: “I don’t know anything about it, I’m not a big fan of The Atlantic…you’re saying that they had what? You’re telling me about it for the first time.”
