This may be one of the Biggest texting wars ever, and if yes also one of the biggest US national security breaches. Were sensitive “war plans” discussed in a Signal chat group that inadvertently included a journalist? Yes or No depends on which side you believe. The American Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was adamant on Monday (March 24) that sensitive “war plans” were not being discussed. And so is ‘The Atlantic’ top editor, Jeffrey Goldberg. In an article in The Atlantic, Goldberg has claimed that he was added to a group on the encrypted messaging app Signal that had Hegseth; Vice President JD Vance; US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and other Trump administration officials. In all there were 18 members in the Signal Group, as per him. He claimed internal deliberations and operational details about airstrikes against Houthi terrorists were discussed in the Signal Group.
Goldberg further claims he was invited to join the Signal chain called the ‘Houthi PC small group’ on March 11, two days after connecting with US National Security Adviser Waltz on the app. The editor told the New York Post that “He was texting war plans. He was texting attack plans. When targets were going to be targeted; how they were going to be targeted; who was at the targets; when the next sequence of attacks was happening.” He added, “I’m sitting in a Safeway parking lot, watching at my phone and realizing, ‘Oh my God, this might be real. I think Pete Hegseth just sent this group actual targeting information, actual sequencing of an attack.’” US launched airstrikes on Iran-backed Houthi rebel group on March 15 and Goldberg claimed in his article that he learned the timing of the Yemen strikes from the Signal posts much earlier.
What Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on the Signal scandal
Slamming the report, Hegseth told reporters, “Nobody was texting war plans and that’s all I have to say about that.” He went on to add that Goldberg cannot be trusted and has a history of lying. “You’re talking about a deceitful and highly discredited so-called journalist who’s made a profession of peddling hoaxes time and time again,” the US defense secretary.
What makes it this a Massive security breach
US officials are known to use Signal app. However, what makes this an apparent security scandal is as Goldberg said, “It is not uncommon for national-security officials to communicate on Signal. But the app is used primarily for meeting planning and other logistical matters — not for detailed and highly confidential discussions of a pending military action.”
US President Trump on the Signal Group and alleged security breach
The US President Donald Trump dismissed the Signal chat. When asked about the story at the White House, he took a shot at The Atlantic. “I don’t know anything about it. I’m not a big fan of the Atlantic,” he told a reporter. “To me, it’s a magazine that’s going out of business. I think it’s not much of a magazine, but I know nothing about it.”
