Top Trump administration officials mistakenly disclosed U.S. war plans in an encrypted Signal group chat that included a journalist, just hours before launching military strikes against Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis, the White House confirmed on Monday. The blunder, first reported by The Atlantic, has sparked outrage among Democratic lawmakers, who are calling for an immediate investigation into what they describe as a serious national security breach.
On March 13, The Atlantic‘s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was unexpectedly invited to a Signal chat group named “Houthi PC small group,” which included senior U.S. officials. Among those in the group were National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
The group reportedly debated the timing and justification for striking the Houthis. At one point, Vance questioned whether the U.S. should intervene, stating, “I just hate bailing Europe out again. Let’s just make sure our messaging is tight here.” In response, Hegseth replied, “VP: I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC.” According to The Atlantic, Hegseth also shared operational details, including specific targets, weapons to be used, and attack sequencing, just hours before the U.S. launched the strikes on March 15.
President Donald Trump denied any knowledge of the incident, telling reporters, “I don’t know anything about it. I’m not a big fan of The Atlantic.” However, a White House official later confirmed that an internal review was underway and that Trump had now been briefed on the matter. National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes admitted that the chat appeared to be authentic but downplayed the security concerns, stating, “The ongoing success of the Houthi operation demonstrates that there were no threats to our servicemembers or national security.”
Hegseth has denied sharing war plans, saying, “Nobody was texting war plans, and that’s all I have to say about that.” In response, Goldberg doubled down in an interview with CNN, stating, “No, that’s a lie. He was texting war plans.”
The use of Signal, which does not utilize government encryption or store messages on U.S. government servers, has raised serious legal concerns. Additionally, messages reportedly set to disappear by Waltz could violate federal record-keeping laws. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called the leak “one of the most stunning breaches of military intelligence in a very, very long time.”
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren condemned the situation as “blatantly illegal and dangerous beyond belief,” while Senator Chris Coons asserted, “Every single government official on this text chain has now committed a crime—even if accidentally—that would normally involve a jail sentence.”
Despite the controversy, the White House has dismissed concerns about staff changes, with spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt stating, “President Trump continues to have the utmost confidence in his national security team.” Meanwhile, Tulsi Gabbard, who has previously advocated for punishing government leakers, is set to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday regarding worldwide threats to the U.S.