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A journalist was inadvertently included in a group chat among top Trump administration officials discussing potential strikes against the Houthis.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has responded to the recent disclosure of high-level conversations regarding potential US airstrikes targeting Houthi rebels in Yemen, labeling the journalist involved as “deceitful” and minimizing the importance of the revealed information.
The incident surfaced after The Atlantic reported that its editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was mistakenly added to a Signal group chat containing key Trump administration figures, including Vice President J.D. Vance, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, and Secretary Hegseth. This group had been actively discussing possible US military actions against the Houthis in the days leading up to President Donald Trump’s authorization of strikes on Yemen on March 15.
Goldberg asserted that one of Hegseth’s last messages before the strikes “contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing.”
When questioned about the leak on Monday, Hegseth characterized Goldberg as “a deceitful and highly discredited so-called journalist who’s made a profession of peddling hoaxes.”
“Nobody was texting war plans, and that’s all I have to say about that,” Hegseth stated when further questioned about the messages’ content.
“There is a real risk that the public doesn’t understand this or why it’s necessary,” wrote the account identified as JD Vance, arguing that “the strongest reason to do this is, as POTUS said, to send a message.” Hegseth concurred, replying: “I think messaging is going to be tough no matter what — nobody knows who the Houthis are — which is why we would need to stay focused on: 1) Biden failed & 2) Iran funded.”
Trump has alleged that the Houthi attacks “emanate from, and are created by, Iran,” cautioning that Washington will now treat every shot fired by the Yemeni group as if it originated from Tehran. “Iran will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire,” the president posted on his Truth Social platform last Monday.