Accidentally added to a secret chat: how the Atlantic editor learned about US plans to strike Yemen
Kyiv • UNN
Jeffrey Goldberg witnessed a discussion of attacks on the Houthis in Yemen in a secret Signal chat. He received information about US plans two hours before they began.
The editor of "The Atlantic", Jeffrey Goldberg, reported that he was accidentally added to a chat in Signal, where he witnessed a discussion of future attacks on Houthi targets in Yemen. Goldberg himself reported this, UNN reports.
Details
According to Goldberg, he knew that the US would strike Houthi targets in Yemen two hours before they started, from messages from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a secret chat.
Pete Hegseth, the Minister of Defense, sent me a war plan at 11:44 a.m. The plan contained accurate information about weapons packages, targets, and timing. On Tuesday, March 11, I received a request to connect to Signal from a user named Michael Waltz. I assumed that the Michael Waltz in question was an advisor to President Donald Trump on national security issues. However, I did not assume that the request came from Michael Waltz himself. I have met him in the past, and while it did not seem particularly strange to me that he might contact me, I thought it was somewhat unusual, given the Trump administration's contentious relationship with journalists - and Trump's periodic obsession with me in particular. It immediately occurred to me that someone might be impersonating Waltz in order to somehow trap me
He notes that he accepted the connection request, hoping that it was a real national security advisor, and that he wanted to talk about Ukraine, Iran, or some other important matter.
Two days later, on Thursday, at 4:28 p.m., I received a message that I had been included in a group in the Signal chat. It was called "Houthi PC small group." Michael Waltz's message to the group read as follows: "Team - we are creating a group on principles to coordinate actions regarding the Houthis, especially over the next 72 hours. My deputy Alex Wong is assembling a "tiger team" at the level of deputies/agency heads following the meeting in the boardroom this morning to develop action plans and will send them out later tonight
Trump ordered powerful strikes against the Houthis in Yemen15.03.25, 20:53 • 64050 views
According to him, after receiving the text from "Waltz" regarding the "Houthi PC small group," he consulted with several colleagues.
We discussed the possibility that these texts were part of a disinformation campaign initiated either by foreign intelligence or, more likely, by a nuisance organization trying to put journalists in an awkward position and sometimes succeeding. I had very strong doubts that this text group existed, because I could not believe that the US national security leadership would report imminent military plans in Signal. I also could not believe that the president's national security advisor would be so reckless as to involve the editor-in-chief of "The Atlantic" in such discussions with senior US officials, up to and including the vice president
However, Goldberg emphasized that "the next day things got even stranger."
At 8:05 a.m. on Friday, March 14, Michael Waltz sent a message to the group: "Team, you should have a statement of findings with tasks as directed by the President this morning in your high-access mailboxes." "The State Department and the Department of Defense have developed proposed notification lists for regional members and Alliance partners. The Joint Staff is sending out a more specific sequence of events in the coming days, and we will work with the Department of Defense to ensure that the commander, defense officer, and president are informed
US Launches Strong Strike Against Houthis in Yemen: What's Known15.03.25, 21:28 • 121239 views
As the journalist noted, Vance publicly did not deviate from Trump's position on virtually any issue. He further wrote: "I'm not sure the President realizes how inconsistent this is with his current message about Europe. There is another risk that we will see a moderate or strong jump in oil prices. I am willing to support the team's consensus and keep these concerns to myself. But there are strong arguments for postponing this for a month, doing outreach on why this is important, seeing what happens with the economy, etc.".
The chat also contained information that "may have been related to real and ongoing intelligence operations." The chat continued with a discussion in response to Vance's message, which included Pete Hegseth and Mike Waltz. Judging by the correspondence, Hegseth agreed with Vance, but noted that delaying could lead to a leak or to Israel acting first. Vance later wrote: "If you think we should do it, let's do it. I just hate saving Europe again.".
North Korea condemns US strikes on Yemen over civilian casualties18.03.25, 06:58 • 16618 views
Goldberg notes that Waltz appeared on ABC on Sunday and contrasted the strikes with the Biden administration's more indecisive approach: "These were not pinpoint strikes that ultimately turned out to be pointless attacks. This was a powerful response that actually targeted several Houthi leaders and destroyed them."
I concluded that the Signal chat group was almost certainly real. Coming to this realization, which seemed almost impossible just a few hours ago, I removed myself from the Signal group, realizing that this would trigger an automatic notification to the group creator that I had left it. No one in the chat seemed to notice my presence. And I didn't get any further questions about why I left - or, more importantly, who I was
