Trump Administration in Chaos as Journalist Accidentally Invited to Secret War Chat
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Trump White House is in full-blown damage control after a jaw-dropping blunder exposed sensitive US military discussions to none other than The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg. The shocking mistake? National security officials inadvertently included him in a private, encrypted Signal chat meant for high-level discussions on military action in Yemen.
The incident, which sounds straight out of a political thriller, has sent shockwaves through Washington. Democratic lawmakers are fuming, calling it a catastrophic breach of national security that demands immediate congressional investigation. White House National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes reluctantly admitted that the chat appeared to be authentic, further fueling the controversy.
Goldberg, in a bombshell report, detailed how he unexpectedly found himself added to a Signal chat group named “Houthi PC small group” on March 13. Inside, the administration’s top brass, including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and even National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, were openly debating an imminent strike on Yemen’s Houthis. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth allegedly went as far as dropping key operational details—including target locations, attack sequencing, and weaponry—just two days before the planned assault.
While Goldberg withheld the most sensitive details from his report, he didn’t hold back on his assessment: calling it a “shockingly reckless” breach of security. Hegseth, when confronted, flatly denied the allegations. “Nobody was texting war plans, and that’s all I have to say about that,” he snapped while on an official trip to Hawaii.
Goldberg, however, wasn’t buying it. “No, that’s a lie. He was texting war plans,” he fired back in a CNN interview, doubling down on his claims.
Adding fuel to the fire, leaked screenshots from The Atlantic revealed internal debates within the chat, exposing a heated exchange between VP Vance and Hegseth over US military support for Europe. “I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC,” Hegseth allegedly responded when Vance questioned whether the US should intervene in the Red Sea crisis. The leaked texts paint a troubling picture of discord within the administration, with even Vance cautioning that the strikes could backfire, possibly causing an oil price surge and contradicting Trump’s European strategy.
And where is Donald Trump in all of this? The former president played it cool—perhaps too cool—when reporters pressed him on the unfolding scandal. “I don’t know anything about it. I’m not a big fan of The Atlantic,” he shrugged. Yet, a White House official later confirmed that an internal investigation was underway and that Trump had, in fact, been briefed.
With the administration scrambling to contain the fallout, this incident may go down as one of the most humiliating national security mishaps in recent history. One thing is certain—this is a scandal that Washington won’t forget anytime soon.
