WASHINGTON: Senior officials in Donald Trump’s administration, including the US vice president and defence secretary, mistakenly added a journalist to a private messaging group where they discussed classified military plans for strikes against Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis, raising serious security concerns, according to a firsthand account by The Atlantic magazine.
The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, reported on Monday that he was inadvertently invited on 13 March to an encrypted chat group on the Signal messaging app called the “Houthi PC small group.” In the group, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz tasked his deputy, Alex Wong, with setting up a “tiger team” to coordinate US action against the Houthis.
US President Donald Trump launched an ongoing campaign of large-scale military strikes against Yemen’s Houthis on 15 March over the group’s attacks on Red Sea shipping, warning Iran, the Houthis’ main backer, to halt its support immediately.
Hours before those attacks began, Hegseth posted operational details about the plan, “including information about targets, weapons the US would be deploying, and attack sequencing,” Goldberg said. He declined to disclose specifics of what he termed the “shockingly reckless” use of the Signal chat to coordinate the strike.
The Defence Department referred a Reuters request for comment to the National Security Council. NSC spokesman Brian Hughes said the chat group appeared to be authentic.
“At this time, the message thread that was reported appears to be authentic, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain. The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials. The ongoing success of the Houthi operation demonstrates that there were no threats to our service members or our national security,” Hughes said.
