Top Trump officials, Pete Hegseth, JD Vance implicated in leaked messages targeting European allies

Senior national security officials of the Trump administration exposed classified details of upcoming military strikes on Yemen by accidentally including journalist Jeffrey Goldberg in a private Signal group chat. 

In the chat, the officials exchanged highly classified operational details, including targets, weapons systems, and attack sequencing, hours before the strikes commenced on March 15.

Goldberg is the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic and is well-renowned for his coverage of foreign affairs and national security matters. He has reported from Afghanistan and Syria, also covering the Second Persian Gulf War.

Accidental leak of Yemen strike plans raises economic relations questions

According to reports, a Signal group chat called “Houthi PC small group” was created between March 11 and March 25, 2025, for top national security figures to coordinate a series of airstrikes on Houthi targets across Yemen.

Goldberg detailed in his account that he received a connection request on March 11 from a person identified as Mike Waltz, who he assumed to be the National Security Adviser. Two days later, he got a notice that he was to be added to the “Houthi PC small group.”

The chat included accounts representing Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and others.

A Michael Waltz account allegedly sent a message to the group reading, “Team – establishing a principles 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.”

On March 14, the Mike Waltz account informed the group that, per the President’s guidance, a statement of conclusions with taskings had been sent to their classified inboxes

The account identified as Vice President Vance raised some concerns about the impact of the strikes on the economy, saying that it could cause a “moderate to a severe spike in oil prices.” Also, given that only 3% of U.S. trade flows through the Suez Canal, and about 40% of European trade does, it appears that Europe allies have more to benefit than the United States.

Market analysts also note that any military escalations in the Middle East would result in heightened volatility in the global markets and reassessment of risk premium on vessels sailing through the Red Sea.

On March 15, 2025, the Pete Hegseth account posted information about the airtstrikes, which Goldberg refused to share details about because they are classified and could be used to harm American military and Intelligence personnel. The airstrikes targeted strategic Houthi positions in Sanaa and other key areas of Yemen andwere part of President Trump’s initiative to open up the disrupted shipping lanes in the Red Sea. The operation comes at a time when global trade is vulnerable.

Military strikes plan leaks a matter of national security

In response to the leak, the National Security Council’s spokesperson Brian Hughes confirmed the authenticity of the Signal chat and launched an internal review to determine how Goldberg’s number was mistakenly included.

Defense Secretary Hegseth also acknowledged the existence of the chat but said, “Nobody was texting war plans, and that’s all I have to say about that”.

Goldberg responded to Hegseth’s denial in an interview on CNN on Monday saying, “No, that’s a lie. He was texting war plans.”

President Trump denied being aware of the incident saying, “I don’t know anything about it. I’m not a big fan of The Atlantic.”

Democratic lawmakers, including Chuck Schumer, described the breach as “one of the most stunning breaches of military intelligence” in recent memory. He also asked majority leader John Thune to investigate.

Senator Elizabeth Warren condemned the incident as “blatantly illegal and dangerous beyond belief” in an X post.

This is blatantly illegal and dangerous beyond belief.

Our national security is in the hands of complete amateurs.

What other highly sensitive national security conversations are happening over group chat? Any other random people accidentally added to those, too? https://t.co/voZY5a38tc

— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) March 24, 2025

Whitehouse spokesperson Karoline Leavitt reiterated that “President Trump continues to have the utmost confidence in his national security team, including national security adviser Mike Waltz.”

There are no suggestions that there would be any staffing changes.

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