Shit You Can’t Make Up: Yemen Houthi Strike Planning Held On Unsecured Phones In Group Chat

Mar 25, 2025 05:08 PM EDT, Tue

Mar 30, 2025 #MikeyMadison #MorganWallen #SNL50 A group of teenagers (Mikey Madison, Sarah Sherman, Ego Nwodim) get added to a group chat with Secretary Pete Hegseth (Andrew Dismukes), Vice President JD Vance (Bowen Yang), Secretary Marco Rubio (Marcello Hernández) and Editor of the Atlantic Jeffrey Goldberg (Mikey Day).

  1. Michael Waltz – National Security Adviser
  2. Pete Hegseth – Secretary of Defense (DOD) (Operational lead. Shared target lists and strike details. Argued for immediate execution, citing strategic and political urgency.)
  3. JD Vance – Vice President (Voiced economic and messaging concerns but supported the operation. Closed his final message with a prayer for victory.)
  4. Marco Rubio (“MAR”) – Secretary of State (Named Mike Needham as State’s liaison. Praised the operation’s success post-strike.)
  5. Joe Kent – Nominee, Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (Designated by DNI. Cautioned against rushing the strike, suggesting more time for strategic framing.) Tulsi Gabbard (“TG”) – Director of National Intelligence (DNI) (Nominated Kent as DNI’s point person. Later applauded the results of the military operation.)
  6. John Ratcliffe – CIA Director (Contributed intelligence-relevant messages. Participated in post-strike commentary and praise.)
  7. Susie (Susan Summerall) Wiles – White House Chief of Staff (Cheered CENTCOM’s performance. Played a morale-boosting role in the group.)
  8. Stephen Miller (“S M”) – Deputy White House Chief of Staff (Confirmed Trump’s go-ahead. Advocated for demanding concessions from Europe and Egypt post-operation.
  9. Steve Witkoff – Special Envoy for the Middle East and Ukraine (Reacted enthusiastically post-strike. Known for his close ties to Trump’s inner circle.)
  10. Brian McCormack – National Security Council Official (Included as the NSC’s representative. His activity in the thread wasn’t detailed, but his inclusion reflects institutional coordination.)
  11. Dan Caldwell – Department of Defense Liaison (Named by Hegseth as DoD’s point person for the operation.(
  12. Mike Needham – Counselor to the State Department (Designated by Rubio to represent State in follow-up planning and coordination.)
  13. Andy Baker – Representative from the Vice President’s Office (Named by JD Vance as his liaison for operational coordination.)
  14. Dan Katz – Treasury Department Liaison (Selected by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to represent Treasury in the group.)
  15. Jeffrey Goldberg (accidental) – Editor in Chief, The Atlantic

Thursday, March 13

BrHow Pete Hegseth Signal group chat reacted to war plans leak

White House National Security Advisor Michael Waltz: “Team – establishing a principles group for coordination on Houthis, particularly for over the next 72 hours. My deputy Alex Wong is pulling together a tiger team at deputies/agency Chief of Staff level following up from the meeting in the Sit Room this morning for action items and will be sending that out later this evening.

“Pls provide the best staff POC [point of contact] from your team for us to coordinate with over the next couple days and over the weekend. Thx.”

MAR [Marco Antonio Rubio]: “Mike Needham for State.”

JD Vance: “Andy baker for VP [vice-president].”

TG [presumed to be Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard]: “Joe Kent for DNI.”

Treasury Secretary Scott B [Bessent]: “Dan Katz for Treasury.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth: “Dan Caldwell for DoD [department of defense.]

Brian: “Brian McCormack for NSC (national security council).”

Goldberg added that CIA Director John Ratcliffe replied “with the name of a CIA official” which he decided not to publish for security reasons.

Friday, March 14

Waltz: “Team, you should have a statement of conclusions with taskings per the Presidents guidance this morning in your high side inboxes.

“State and DOD, we developed suggested notification lists for regional Allies and partners. Joint Staff is sending this am a more specific sequence of events in the coming days and we will work w DOD to ensure COS [chief of staff], OVP [office of vice president] and POTUS [president of the United States] are briefed.”

Vance: “Team, I am out for the day doing an economic event in Michigan. But I think we are making a mistake.

“3 percent of US trade runs through the suez [canal]. 40 percent of European trade does. There is a real risk that the public doesn’t understand this or why it’s necessary.

“The strongest reason to do this is, as POTUS said, to send a message. But I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now. There’s a further risk that we see a moderate to severe spike in oil prices.

“I am willing to support the consensus of the team and keep these concerns to myself. But there is a strong argument for delaying this a month, doing the messaging work on why this matters, seeing where the economy is, etc.”

Joe Kent: “There is nothing time sensitive driving the time line. We’ll have the exact same options in a month.

“The Israelis will likely take strikes & therefore ask us for more support to replenish whatever they use against the Houthis. But that’s a minor factor. I will send you the unclass data we pulled on BAM shipping.”

Ratcliffe: “From CIA perspective, we are mobilizing assets to support now but a delay would not negatively impact us and additional time would be used to identify better starting points for coverage on Houthi leadership.”

Hegseth: “VP: I understand your concerns – and fully support you raising w/ POTUS. Important considerations, most of which are tough to know how they play out (economy, Ukraine peace, Gaza, etc). I think messaging is going to be tough no matter what – nobody knows who the Houthis are – which is why we would need to stay focused on: 1) Biden failed & 2) Iran funded.

“Waiting a few weeks or a month does not fundamentally change the calculus. 2 immediate risks on waiting: 1) this leaks, and we look indecisive; 2) Israel takes an action first – or Gaza cease fire falls apart – and we don’t get to start this on our own terms. We can manage both. We are prepared to execute, and if I had final go or no go vote, I believe we should. This [is] not about the Houthis. I see it as two things: 1) Restoring Freedom of Navigation, a core national interest; and 2) Reestablish deterrence, which Biden cratered. But, we can easily pause. And if we do, I will do all we can to enforce 100% OPSEC [operations security]. I welcome other thoughts.”

Waltz: “The trade figures we have are 15% of global and 30% of container. It’s difficult to break that down to US. Specific because much of the container either going through the red sea still or around the Cape of Good Hope our components going to Europe that turns into manufactured good for transatlantic trade to the United States.

“Whether we pull the plug or not today European navies do not have the capability to defend against the types of sophisticated, antiship, cruise missiles, and drones the Houthis are now using.

“So whether it’s now or several weeks from now, it will have to be the United States that reopens these shipping lanes. Per the president’s request we are working with DOD and State to determine how to compile the cost associated and levy them on the Europeans.”

Waltz: “As we stated in the first PC we have a fundamental decision of allowing the sea lanes to remain closed or to re-open them now or later, we are the only ones with the capability unfortunately. From a messaging standpoint we absolutely ad this to of horribles on why the Europeans must invest in their defense.”

JD Vance: “If you think we should do it let’s go. I just hate bailing Europe out again.

“Let’s just make sure our messaging is tight here. And if there are things we can do upfront to minimize risk to Saudi oil facilities we should do it.

Hegseth: “VP: I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC. But Mike is correct, we are the only ones on the planet (on our side of the ledger) who can do this. Nobody else even close. Question is timing. I feel like now is as good a time as any, given POTUS directive to reopen shipping lanes. I think we should go; but POTUS still retains 24 hours of decision space.”

SM [Stephen Miller]: “As I heard it, the president was clear: green light, but we soon make clear to Egypt and Europe what we expect in return. We also need to figure out how to enforce such a requirement. EG, if Europe doesn’t remunerate, then what? If the US successfully restores freedom of navigation at great cost there needs to be some further economic gain extracted in return.”

Hegseth: “Agree.”

Saturday, March 15

Hegseth: “TEAM UPDATE:

“TIME NOW (1144et): Weather is FAVORABLE. Just CONFIRMED W/ CENTCOM we are a GO for mission launch.

“1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package)

“1345: ‘Trigger Based’ F-18 1st Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME) - also, Stike Drones Launch (MQ-9s)

“1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package)

1415: “Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier ‘Trigger Based’ targets)

15:36: “F-18 2nd Strike Starts - also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched.”

“MORE TO FOLLOW per timeline. We are currently clean on OPSEC. Godspeed to our Warriors.”

Vance: “I will say a prayer for victory.”

Waltz: “VP. building collapsed. Had multiple positive ID. Pete, Kurilla, the IC, amazing job.”

Vance: “What?”

Waltz: “Typing too fast. The first target - their top missile guy - we had positive ID of him walking into his girlfriend’s building and it’s now collapsed.”

Vance: “Excellent.”

Waltz: 👊🇺🇸🔥

MAR: “Good Job Pete and your team!!”

Waltz: “The team in MAL did a great job as well.”

SM: “Great work all. Powerful start.”

Hegseth: “CENTCOM was/is on point. Great job all. More strikes ongoing for hours tonight and will provide full initial report tomorrow. But on time, on target, and good readouts so far.”

Susie Wiles: “Kudos to all – most particularly those in theater and CENTCOM! Really great. God bless.”

Steve Witkoff: 🙏 💪 🇺🇸 🇺🇸

TG: “Great work and effects!”

What People Are Saying

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to reporters: “You’re talking about a deceitful and highly discredited so-called journalist who’s made a profession of peddling hoaxes time and time again…This is a guy who peddles in garbage…Nobody was texting war plans and that’s all I have to say.”

Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, on MSNBC: “The Secretary of Defense seems like a person who is unserious and is trying to deflect from the fact that he participated in a conversation on an unclassified messaging app that he probably shouldn’t have participated in.”

Brian Hughes, a spokesperson for the NSC, confirmed the veracity of the group text to Goldberg: “This appears to be an authentic message chain, 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 troops or national security.”

Former CIA Director Leon Panetta called it: “A very serious mistake” that “could violate the espionage laws, but more importantly, could undermine our national security.”

President Donald Trump claimed no knowledge of the incident: “I don’t know anything about it. I’m not a big fan of The Atlantic. To me, it’s a magazine that’s going out of business. But I know nothing about it. You’re saying that they had what?”

What Happens Next

Goldberg said he left the Signals chat group, so he will be unable to report on any additional conversation. It is unclear whether there will be an investigation into what went wrong.

The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg exposed a new national security low for Trump

His first administration was sloppy with America’s secrets. His second is even worse.

March 24, 2025, 4:37 PM EDT By Ryan Teague Beckwith, Newsletter Editor

Suppose you were a spy for a hostile foreign power, trying to figure out how to steal America’s secrets.

In years past, you might have tried to flip an FBI agent working on counterintelligence or planted a bug in the U.S. embassy. Or maybe you would have tasked a team of hackers with gaining access to the emails of members of the Democratic National Committee These days, the question would be what you wouldn’t do. Donald Trump’s first administration was so sloppy and uncaring about basic security protocols that a spy hoping to penetrate the U.S. government faced an embarrassment of riches from Mar-a-Lago to the Oval Office. His second administration, barely two months old, is already worse.

The most recent — and perhaps most egregious — example became public Monday when Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine, revealed that late last week he was inadvertently added to a group chat planning military strikes in Yemen involving accounts that appeared to be Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, national security adviser Michael Waltz and other top officials.

The breach was so egregious that Goldberg at first figured it was the kind of stunt that conservative activists have used to pull to try to trick journalists. But he changed his mind (and exited the group) after details from the discussion matched U.S. strikes in Yemen Saturday. The chat’s authenticity was subsequently confirmed by a spokesman for the National Security Council, who spun it as “a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful coordination between senior officials.” (Asked by reporters about the breach at a White House event, Trump said he knew ““nothing about it.””)1

This kind of conversation about an upcoming military operation is normally conducted through a secure government channel or in what’s known as a “sensitive compartmented information facility.” A SCIF is so secure that you’re not even allowed to bring your cellphone into it. It follows logically that you shouldn’t be holding those same conversations on a cellphone either, much less using commercial software such as Signal. If hacking Signal is too difficult, perhaps a foreign spy might find it easier to hack Starlink, the satellite internet service run by [Elon Musk)(https://www.x.com/elonmusk/)’s SpaceX. Starlink has been installed around the White House as well as the General Services Administration and other federal agencies, according to a recent New York Times article. In 2022, a Belgian researcher demonstrated a method to hack Starlink terminals using off-the-shelf equipment that cost around $25.

Or maybe an intelligence agency could recruit one of the tens of thousands of former federal workers forced out of their job by [Musk)(https://www.x.com/elonmusk/)’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency. “National security and intelligence experts” recently told the Associated Press that the more former employees fired, the more likely it is that one or handful reach out to another country, whether out of anger or simply to pay the bills.

It can be hard to flip federal workers, though, as they are rigorously screened before hiring and typically serve the government out of a patriotic sense of duty. Maybe you’d find it easier as a spy to just rent an apartment in Trump Tower and get a membership at one of Trump’s golf clubs so you can set up a meeting with him, as a Chinese fugitive with ties to organized crime did during Trump’s first term, according to a a ProPublica investigation.

If you bought a membership to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, you might even come across a few hundred classified documents while looking for a bathroom or walking through a gilded ballroom, as detailed in an indictment for a since-scuttled case against Trump.

Or you could hang out in high-end D.C. restaurants, where during Trump’s first term his lawyers were overheard by a New York Times reporter discussing details of several investigations into the administration. Or just wait for one of Trump’s lawyers to inadvertently butt-dial your phone and listen in to his conversation — as Rudy Giuliani managed to do not once, but twice, in Trump’s first term.

Every administration has its share of snafus, security failures and oversights. But the Trump administration’s errors are on an entirely different level.

Every administration has its share of snafus, security failures and oversights. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as we were endlessly reminded in the 2016 campaign, had her own private email server installed at her house, which ended up handling a number of emails that included classified information. Her campaign chairman, John Podesta, was hacked by a simple “change your password” phishing email. Former president Joe Biden, among others, also had some some classified documents. But the Trump administration’s errors in this area are on an entirely different level. The sheer scale and scope of its transgressions against standard operational security are mind-boggling.

Some of this may be due to Trump’s love of hiring outsiders without much government experience. Some of it may be due to disrespect for record-keeping laws. But the most straightforward answer is that Trump and the people he hires believe the rules don’t apply to them, even if those rules were designed to protect their secrets — and ours.

@RalphHightower: The Atlantic has a paywall. Jeffrey Goldberg was interviewed by Rachel Maddow on MSNBC

The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans - The Atlantic

U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat about upcoming military strikes in Yemen. I didn’t think it could be real. Then the bombs started falling.

By Jeffrey Goldberg March 24, 2025, 12:06 PM ET

Federal Agencies In Article Purpose
Bureau of Consular Affairs The Bureau of Consular Affairs provides passport services to U.S. citizens, issues Visas to enter the U.S., manages the Diversity Visa Lottery, and provides services to U.S. citizens abroad.
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U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) is responsible for defending and promoting U.S. interests in 20 nations in the Middle East, Central and South Asia, and the strategic waterways that surround them.
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National Security Agency (NSA) The National Security Agency (NSA) provides the military forces needed to deter war, and to protect the security of the United States.
National Security Council(NSC) The National Security Council(NSC) advises the President on national security and foreign policy.
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  1. @RalphHightower: The Sergeant Schultz Defense: *“I know nothing! I know nothing!”. Hogan’s Heroes. CBS. 1965 – 1971. Hogan’s Heroes – Wikipedia ↩

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