Washington is reeling from a bombshell report detailing an unprecedented security lapse within the Trump administration. In what experts are calling an unbelievable mistake, a top White House official reportedly added The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, to a highly classified Signal group chat—where senior Trump officials openly discussed military strikes in Yemen.
Goldberg, who broke the shocking story Monday morning, revealed that on March 11, he was mistakenly included in a conversation with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz. The group, named “Houthi PC small group,” was actively planning military action against Houthi rebels in Yemen.
“I accepted the connection request, hoping that this was the actual national security adviser and that he wanted to chat about Ukraine, Iran, or some other pressing matter,” Goldberg wrote. Instead, he found himself in a real-time strategy session on military strikes, complete with attack details, weapon specifications, and sequencing plans.
In one particularly damning message, Waltz laid out immediate operational plans: “Team – establishing a principles [sic] group for coordination on Houthis, particularly for over the next 72 hours. My deputy Alex Wong is pulling together a tiger team at deputies/agency Chief of Staff level following up from the meeting in the Sit Room this morning for action items and will be sending that out later this evening.”
The revelation sent shockwaves through Washington, with lawmakers and national security experts calling it an astounding breach of protocol.
Senator Chris Coons didn’t hold back: “Every single one of the government officials on this text chain has now committed a crime – even if accidentally – that would normally involve a jail sentence. We can’t trust anyone in this dangerous administration to keep Americans safe.”
Rep. Joe Neguse echoed the outrage, calling it “total incompetence, yet again.” Others pointed out that in any other administration, an immediate FBI investigation would have been launched.
National security analysts were equally stunned. “In 25 years of covering national security, I’ve never seen a story like this,” journalist Shane Harris remarked. Meanwhile, The Atlantic’s David Frum noted the irony: “The editor-in-chief of The Atlantic is more responsible with U.S. national security information than any of the principals of the Trump national-security team.”
Social media erupted with disbelief, as one viral post bluntly summarized the situation: “THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER INCLUDED THE EDITOR IN CHIEF OF THE ATLANTIC MAGAZINE IN A SIGNAL GROUP CHAT ABOUT SENSITIVE MILITARY OPERATIONS AND NO ONE NOTICED???”
With critics calling for immediate accountability and an investigation into the breach, the White House has yet to comment on how one of the most significant national security leaks in recent memory unfolded—right inside a group chat.
