President Donald Trump’s top national security officials are facing questions this week after a journalist reported that he was added to an encrypted group chat where administration officials appeared to be discussing plans for renewed U.S. strikes in Yemen.
On March 15, U.S. forces began launching airstrikes and missile attacks targeting Yemen’s Houthis, a U.S.-designated terrorist group. Throughout the past 14 months, the Houthis have repeatedly targeted commercial shipping in the Red Sea with drone and missile attacks, saying these attacks will continue so long as the Israeli military continues to attack terrorist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Recounting the episode, Goldberg reported that the Signal user who brought him onto the chat was named “Michael Waltz,” the same name as Trump’s national security adviser. It was there on this chat channel that several other Signal users discussed the planning to begin striking targets in Yemen.
Goldberg provided some copies of the text messages that flowed through the chat group and described other elements of the discussion in looser detail.
At one point in his summary of the incident, Goldberg alleged that a Signal user, whom he believes was Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, described the timing, targets, and specific weapons to be used in the renewed strikes on Yemen.
At another point, Goldberg said various users on the chat began naming representatives for further follow-on discussions about the strikes in Yemen. The Atlantic journalist reported a user he believes to have been CIA Director John Ratcliffe named a CIA employee in this exchange. Goldberg wrote that he elected to withhold the CIA employee’s name out of concern that the person’s identity would be a sensitive detail.
A spokesman for the National Security Council has since told The Epoch Times that the conversation Goldberg described in his article “appears to be authentic.”
What Is Signal?
Since this Signal chat leaked to Goldberg, lawmakers have begun asking whether the private texting application is an appropriate venue for the discussions that took place.In a Senate floor speech on Monday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the app is unsecured and not appropriate for the sensitive military matters that Goldberg described.
“This debacle requires a full investigation into how this happened, the damage it created, and how we can avoid it in the future if our nation’s military secrets are being peddled around over unsecured text chains,” Schumer said.
At a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on March 25, CIA Director John Ratcliffe—whom Goldberg reported had appeared on the Yemen Signal chat—said CIA staff loaded the app onto his work computer and briefed him as to its appropriate uses.
No Classified Information Shared: Officials
The Trump administration officials involved in the Signal chat have rebutted Goldberg’s suggestions that their conversation included critically sensitive details.During a stopover in Hawaii on Monday, Hegseth said “nobody was texting war plans.” The defense secretary also questioned Goldberg’s credibility and criticized the latter’s reporting on Trump’s first term.
At their Tuesday Senate hearing, Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard—who also was reportedly involved in the Signal chat—both said no classified information was discussed in the chat channel Goldberg saw. They also said they were unaware of any discussions concerning the timing, targets, and weapons to be used in the March 15 strikes in Yemen.
Ratcliffe also denied Goldberg’s insinuation that he may have divulged sensitive information about a CIA employee, saying the individual he named in the group chat was not an undercover agent.
In an interview with The Bulwark on Tuesday, Goldberg didn’t rule out the possibility of releasing more details about the Signal chat to validate his reporting.
Calls for Investigation Mount
While the National Security Council is reviewing how Goldberg came to be added to the chat, calls are continuing to mount for an external investigation of the matter.“There should absolutely be a congressional investigation so that we can understand what happened, why did it happen, and how do we prevent this type of national security breach from ever happening again?” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said at a Monday press conference.
Speaking with reporters on Monday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said the Senate would look into the matter.
“We’re just finding out about it, but, obviously, we’ve got to run it to ground and figure out what went on there,” Thune said.
Trump Stands by Waltz
While Goldberg’s reporting suggests Waltz added him to the Yemen signal chat, the president has continued to publicly support his national security adviser.Addressing reporters at a White House event on Tuesday, Trump said that despite the chat group leak, the renewed U.S. strikes on the Houthis have been a resounding success.
He also said that government employees widely use the Signal app and that no classified information was shared in this particular channel.
Trump attributed the leak episode to a fault in the technology and suggested that officials might reduce usage of the app.
“I don’t think it’s something we’re looking forward to using again; we may be forced to use it. You may be in a situation where you need speed as opposed to gross safety, and you may be forced to use it, but generally speaking, I think we probably won’t be using it very much,” he said.
The president also appeared to attribute the leak episode to an unnamed Waltz aide for Goldberg being added to the chain.
“Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man,” Trump said Tuesday. “It was one of Michael’s people on the phone. A staffer had his number on there.”
Waltz said Tuesday he was not sure how Goldberg ended up on the chat.
“This one in particular, I’ve never met, don’t know, never communicated with,” Waltz said.
