Top-Secret White House Chat Breach Sparks Outrage and Tensions

On Monday, The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg made a shocking revelation: he was accidentally added to a top-secret White House Signal chat discussing military plans for an upcoming strike on Yemen. The chat, which was supposed to be highly confidential, included 18 senior officials, including Vice President JC Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and CIA Director Tulsi Gabbard.

A Mistaken Inclusion in a Sensitive Chat

Goldberg described how National Security Adviser Mike Waltz started the conversation on Signal, a secure messaging app. The chat was meant to be a private discussion of military operations, but Goldberg, a respected journalist, was mistakenly added. This included sensitive details about the strike, such as targets, weapons, and the sequence of attacks. Goldberg claimed that Hegseth shared specifics of the military plan in the chat just hours before the attack on March 15.

Hegseth Fires Back

Upon learning of the breach, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wasted no time criticizing Goldberg’s credibility. Hegseth, calling Goldberg a “highly discredited so-called journalist,” slammed The Atlantic for its coverage of Trump-related issues. He accused Goldberg of spreading false information, labeling him a “deceitful” journalist who “peddles in garbage.”

Hegseth was quick to dismiss the suggestion that he shared “war plans” in the group, emphasizing that no classified operational details had been leaked. However, Goldberg stood by his claims, telling CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that Hegseth was indeed texting attack plans in the group chat.