On Monday, The Atlantic released a report revealing that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had inadvertently disclosed secret war plans in a Signal group chat. The report outlined that Hegseth shared details on the movements and targets of American F-18s with 18 other individuals before the attack occurred, information that is typically classified.
In a Congressional testimony on Tuesday, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard asserted under oath that the information was not classified, despite The Atlantic previously withholding certain details regarding the F-18s’ movements from public disclosure. Nonetheless, The Atlantic later published the entire conversation, including screenshots that identified the 19 group chat members. It was noted that just the previous week, the Pentagon had issued a memo advising against using Signal due to potential threats from Russian hackers. National Security Advisor Michael Waltz was responsible for inadvertently adding a journalist to the chat, acknowledging his error in a Fox News interview and taking “full responsibility” for the oversight.
The chat contained a statement from Hegseth claiming “We are currently clean on OPSEC [operational security],” along with plans for an attack on the Houthis, which included specific times, aircrafts, and munitions. The timeline included precise military actions starting with a mission launch confirmation at 11:44 am, leading up to the bombs dropping.
The Vice President, JD Vance, commented in the chat with a prayer for victory, to which two individuals responded with prayer emojis. Subsequently, Waltz adjusted the disappearing message setting in the chat, meaning that messages would automatically delete after four weeks. Waltz later informed the chat that a building, where a target was positively identified, had collapsed, a message which confused the Vice President initially due to fast typing by Waltz.
During the Congressional hearing, Gabbard and Ratcliffe, despite affirming the lack of classification, refused to disclose further details of the chat. President Trump also stated in a Newsmax interview that the information was not classified, describing the attack as a successful operation.
Following the administration’s assurances, The Atlantic published the full conversation. The administration’s reaction remains to be seen, though Press Secretary Karoline Levitt responded on social media, labeling the reports as exaggerated and dismissing them as sensationalist storytelling by a critic of Trump.