WASHINGTON (AP) — Last Monday, hours after The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief revealed that he had been included in a Signal group chat with high-ranking officials in Donald Trump’s government where a detailed discussion took place about an attack against the Houthis in Yemen, Pentagon chief, Pete Hegseth, tried to deny the information and stated that "no one was texting war plans, and that’s all I have to say about it."
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In addition, the criticized Secretary of Defense discredited Jeffrey Goldberg, calling him a “deceitful and highly discredited” journalist.
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President Trump also spoke disparagingly about The Atlantic and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has said that no classified information was published in the Signal chat.
In the face of these criticisms and denials, this Wednesday The Atlantic published the full Signal chat, further evidencing that Hegseth provided the exact timing of the warplane launches and when the bombs would fall on the Houthi rebels in Yemen before the pilots were even in the air.
What are the main revelations from the chat of high-ranking officials in the Trump government?
What was revealed is astonishing in its specificity and includes the type of information that is kept highly restricted to protect the operational security of a military attack.
In the group chat, Hegseth posted:
- “1215et: F-18s TAKE OFF (1st attack package)”.
- “1345: The F-18 ‘Trigger-Based’ Attack Window Begins (The Target Terrorist is at their Known Location, so IT SHOULD BE ON TIME - also, Attack Drones (MQ-9s) are Launched).”
- “1410: More F-18s TAKE OFF (2nd attack package).”
- “1415: Attack Drones on Target (THIS IS THE MOMENT WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY FALL, pending previous ‘Trigger-Based’ targets)”
- “1536 The 2nd F-18 Attack begins - in addition, the first Tomahawks are launched from the sea.”
- “MORE TO COME (according to the schedule)”
- “We are currently clean on OPSEC” - that is, operational security.
- “God bless our Warriors.”
Goldberg has said that he asked the White House if they were opposed to the publication and they responded that they would prefer it not to be published.
In a letter sent to Donald Trump, the leader of the Democratic minority in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, demanded the dismissal of the Secretary of Defense, stating that he was “unqualified” and represented a risk to national security.
Which officials appear in the Signal chat?
The supposedly private chat was created by Michael Waltz, the national security advisor, and the highest officials of the Trump administration were in it. Among the most visible users were Vice President JD Vance, Pete Hegseth, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
Furthermore, other high-ranking officials participated whose names were not explicitly mentioned, although their initials or nicknames were provided that allow for inferring their possible identities. Among them was “MAR,” which corresponds to Secretary of State Marco Rubio; “TG,” attributed to National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard; and “Scott B,” a name that suggests the presence of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in the conversation. Another member of the group was “SM,” allegedly White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.
Goldberg has stated in several interviews that he is unaware of why he was included in this chat or who he was mistaken for by the person who added him.
In part of the conversations, Vice President Vance shows doubts about the attack and asks to consider postponing it for a month, while he and Hegseth show great disdain for Europe and the allies of the United States.
Even Miller mentions the option that the United States be rewarded for the attack, since the main beneficiaries of the military intervention against the Houthis would be Europe and Egypt.
What is Signal?
Signal is a publicly available application that provides encrypted communications, but it can be hacked. It is not approved for handling classified information.
On March 14, a day before the attacks, the Department of Defense warned personnel about the vulnerability of Signal, specifically that Russia was attempting to hack the application, according to an official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
A known vulnerability is that a malicious actor, with access to a person’s phone, can link their device to the user’s Signal and essentially monitor messages remotely in real time.