The Trump administration has confirmed that a text thread, reportedly detailing war plans and accidentally including a journalist from The Atlantic, "appears to be authentic."
In an article published Monday, Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief for The Atlantic, detailed how on March 11, he received a connection request on the encrypted app Signal from a user identified as Michael Waltz.
Goldberg said accepted the connection, despite not being sure if it was actually from the president's adviser.
In the days that followed, Goldberg said he was added to a group chat titled "Houthi PC small group."
The group of about two dozen individuals included users who identified themselves as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Waltz, Goldberg writes.
After discussing policy considerations about a strike on Iran-backed Houthi rebels, Goldberg said a message from Hegseth "contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing."
Knowing the attack was set for March 15 at around 1:45 p.m., Goldberg said he parked at a supermarket and checked X for reports of bombings in Yemen.
"At about 1:55, I checked X and searched Yemen," he wrote. "Explosions were then being heard across Sanaa, the capital city."
Goldberg said a short time later, users in the group chat started congratulating each other. He added that he removed himself from the group chat after coming to the conclusion that it was likely legitimate.
In a statement to Scripps News, National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes said, “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 servicemembers or our national security.”
President Donald Trump was asked about Goldberg's article on Monday. He said, "I know nothing about it."
