Top Trump officials leaked war plans to a journalist by mistake
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How did Trump officials accidentally leak war plans?
But first, earlier this month, just before the United States launched new strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen, top officials in the Trump administration discussed those plans in detail using a non-government-sanctioned group messaging app called Signal. And they added a journalist to their group by mistake, Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic.
Who is Jeffrey Goldberg and what role did he play?
Goldberg reports that he has no idea how or why he was added to the group chat, which appears to have been created by National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and included the vice president, secretary of state, director of national intelligence and others. Goldberg says he initially wasn't sure it was real. But over the course of several days, he watched the conversations unfold. And on Saturday, March 15th, a Signal user in the chat named Pete Hegseth texted the group operational details of planned strikes against the Houthis, what kind of weapons the U.S. would be using, and information about targets. The Hegsath account said the strikes would start in several hours, so Goldberg waited to see what would happen.
And sure enough, he started to see reports on social media about explosions in Yemen's capital. Here's Goldberg talking to PBS.
That's when I realized that the chain was real. Until that point, I really had a deep suspicion that that I was being spoofed or hoaxed or being led astray on a disinformation campaign. But this all seems so improbable that I simply assumed that it couldn't be real.
Both the National Security Council and the White House have since confirmed the existence and authenticity of this group text. However, President Trump told reporters in a press briefing on Monday that he didn't know about the chat.
What was President Trump's response to the leaked chat?
The hooties, you mean the attack on the hooties? Yes. Well, it couldn't have been very effective because the attack was very effective, I can tell you that. I don't know anything about it. You're telling me about it for the first time.
In addition to the highly classified military information Goldberg was given access to, this group text also revealed information about the identities of active CIA personnel, and information that Goldberg says could have conceivably harmed U.S. military and intelligence operatives in the Middle East. I should note, The Atlantic did not publish any of those plans or other classified details, but former U.S. officials told Goldberg, this is why a messaging app like Signal should never be used for sensitive information. Had any of these officials' phones been lost, stolen, or hacked, the signal messages could have been accessed, which would have been a serious threat to national security.
What legal concerns arise from using Signal for official communications?
That's why the government has its own internal system for sharing classified information, which all cabinet-level members have access to. Raising further legal questions, Waltz, the national security advisor, also set some of the messages in the group chat to disappear after a period of time. A former director of litigation at the National Archives and Records Administration told The Atlantic, unless these Trump officials forwarded the messages from the signal chat to an official government account or copied them to one, they may have violated federal records law. Text messages about official acts are considered records that must be preserved. Goldberg told PBS all of these oversights highlight the recklessness of the group chat.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
How did Trump officials accidentally leak war plans?
0:51–1:13
2
Who is Jeffrey Goldberg and what role did he play?
1:13–2:34
3
What was President Trump's response to the leaked chat?
2:34–3:26
4
What legal concerns arise from using Signal for official communications?
3:26–6:11
5
How are legal residents being targeted in Trump's immigration policies?
6:11–7:11
6
What are some recent high-profile detention cases?
7:11–14:44
Speakers
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