Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor of The Atlantic, was added to a highly confidential chat by mistake
The journalist who was accidentally added to a top secret government chat has revealed what some of the texts said.
In an extraordinary turn of events earlier this month, The Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg was mistakenly added to a highly confidential Signal chat in the lead-up to the U.S. ordering bomb strikes in Yemen.
It has since been revealed that Mike Waltz, the national security adviser, or a member of his team, was responsible for adding Goldberg to the chat. The incident occurred on March 13, just two days before the strikes were executed. In response, Goldberg stated, “The statements from Hegseth, Gabbard, Ratcliffe, and Trump—coupled with claims by various administration officials that we’re fabricating the content of the Signal texts—have convinced us that the public should have access to these messages to draw their own conclusions.”
He emphasized, “There is a clear public interest in revealing the kind of information that Trump’s advisers shared through unsecured communication channels, especially when senior administration figures are trying to downplay the significance of the messages exchanged.”
While the rest of the world learned of the attacks only after they had occurred, Goldberg had access to this critical information two hours in advance. Among the texts he received on the day of the operation, one from Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, read: “TIME NOW (1144ET): Weather is FAVORABLE. Just CONFIRMED w/CENTCOM we are a GO for mission launch.” Central Command (CENTCOM) is the U.S. military’s combatant command overseeing operations in the Middle East.
The next message that followed read: “1215ET: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package),” quickly followed by another: “1345ET: ‘Trigger Based’ F-18 1st Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is at his Known Location, so SHOULD BE ON TIME – also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s)).” Hegseth continued to provide real-time updates, detailing that the second strike would commence at 15:36. In response to this precise coordination, Vice President JD Vance commented, “I will say a prayer for victory.”
Not long after, Waltz texted the group to confirm that a building believed to house the Houthis group’s “top missile guy” had collapsed in the strike.
“Excellent,” Vance replied. The chat then proceeded with others offering congratulations to Hegseth and his team for the successful operation.
The full exchange is available for public view, adding an unexpected layer of transparency to the military’s actions. Despite the blunder of mistakenly adding Goldberg to the sensitive chat, President Trump himself has remained largely unfazed, showing little concern for the security breach.
In a phone interview with NBC News, Trump addressed the situation, stating, “Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man.” He also emphasized that Goldberg’s presence in the chat had “no impact at all” on the military operation, brushing off the incident as “the only glitch in two months, and it turned out not to be a serious one.”
While the debacle may not have escalated into something more critical, Goldberg highlighted the potential dangers of the mistake. “I mean, at least it wasn’t somebody who supported the Houthis,” Goldberg remarked. “They were actually handing out information that I believe could have endangered the lives of American service people involved in that operation,” he told PBS, underscoring how easily the situation could have had far more severe consequences.
