The Atlantic Exposes Trump Officials' Entire Group Chat Exchange About U.S. War Plans in Shocking Security Breach

• Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, revealed on March 24 that senior Trump advisers accidentally added him to a group chat on Signal in which they discussed U.S. "war plans."
• The Trump administration pushed back against Goldberg's reporting, insisting that no war plans or classified information were shared in the chat — which included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice President J.D. Vance and more than a dozen other officials.
• On March 26, The Atlantic published screenshots of the entire group text exchange to prove that it involved war plans, stating, "There is a clear public interest in disclosing the sort of information that Trump advisers included in nonsecure communications channels."

The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg is now sharing everything he knows after he was inadvertently added to a group chat in which several top advisers within President Donald Trump's administration allegedly discussed pending U.S. strikes on Yemeni rebels.

Goldberg initially published select screenshots from the group chat on Monday, March 24, but he omitted specific details at the time and instead broadly described what he observed as an accidental fly on the wall.

Trump officials reacted by portraying Goldberg as an unreliable narrator, promptly denying that he was clued in on any "war plans" or anything else that's classified.

On Wednesday, March 26, The Atlantic called the White House's bluff and published an exhaustive follow-up story to its initial article about the security breach, titled, "Here Are the Attack Plans That Trump's Advisers Shared on Signal."

In the follow-up post, Goldberg exposes screenshots of the entire text exchange, revealing the extent of what top officials like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth were willing to disclose in a messaging app group chat with 19 members — including a journalist.

"There is a clear public interest in disclosing the sort of information that Trump advisers included in nonsecure communications channels, especially because senior administration figures are attempting to downplay the significance of the messages that were shared," the Atlantic's latest piece reads.

"As we wrote on Monday, much of the conversation in the 'Houthi PC small group' concerned the timing and rationale of attacks on the Houthis, and contained remarks by Trump-administration officials about the alleged shortcomings of America’s European allies," the article continues. "But on the day of the attack—Saturday, March 15—the discussion veered toward the operational."

The article then reveals Hegseth's texts in which he shares a "TEAM UPDATE" showing time stamps of when various attacks are planned and where.

Screenshots show that after one strike was described as successful by White House national security adviser Michael Waltz, several weighed in with their congratulations.

Vice President J.D. Vance wrote, "Excellent." White House chief of staff Susie Wiles offered her "kudos" to the team and wrote, "Really great. God bless." A member identified as "TG" — who many believe to be Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard — wrote, "Great work and effects!"

Goldberg and his co-author, Shane Harris, write: "If this information—particularly the exact times American aircraft were taking off for Yemen—had fallen into the wrong hands in that crucial two-hour period, American pilots and other American personnel could have been exposed to even greater danger than they ordinarily would face."

Goldberg suggested on Tuesday, March 25, that he was hesitant to share screenshots of the full group chat because of the possible national security risk.

While speaking on an episode of the Bulwark Podcast, he said, “Just because they’re irresponsible with material, doesn’t mean that I’m going to be irresponsible with this material.”

Addressing the Trump administration's pushback on his reporting, Goldberg said, “At moments like this, when they’re under pressure because they’ve been caught with their hand in the cookie jar or whatever, you know, they will just literally say anything to get out of the moment."

“I get the defensive reaction,” he added. “But my obligation, I feel, is to the idea that we take national security information seriously.”

The same day, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to Goldberg's article, insisting in an X post that the journalist "is well-known for his sensationalist spin." She also claimed that, "No 'war plans' were discussed," and said that "no classified material was sent to the thread."

Escalating denials from the White House appeared to change Goldberg's mind on whether to expose the full chat, though even on Wednesday, he redacted the identity of a CIA officer who was mentioned in the group chat out of respect for her safety.

Representatives for the White House and National Security Council (NSC) could not immediately be reached for comment when PEOPLE previously reported on the messages, but the NSC told CBS News in a statement at the time that the texts appeared to be "authentic."

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On Tuesday, Waltz told Fox News' The Ingraham Angle: "I take full responsibility. I built the group."

Still, Waltz said he did not know how he got Goldberg's number in the first place, adding, "It's embarrassing. We're going to get to the bottom of it."

Trump publicly defended Waltz, telling NBC News on Tuesday in a phone interview that the senior adviser "has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man."

The president told the outlet that it was "the only glitch in two months, and it turned out not to be a serious one," while speaking about the weeks since his inauguration.