3 days ago
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File photo of US defence secretary Pete Hegseth (Pic credit: AP)
US defence Secretary Pete Hegseth firmly denied on Monday that any sensitive "war plans" were shared in a
Signal chat group
that mistakenly included a "deceitful and highly discredited so-called" journalist.
When asked about the "war plans" against the Houthis in Yemen shared with the journalists in the Atlantic, Hegseth called the journalist "deceitful and highly discredited" and said that he is the guy that pedals in garbage.
The Atlantic's editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, disclosed that he was accidentally included in an encrypted Signal app group conversation with Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, national security adviser Mike Waltz and other officials, where they discussed operational specifics about Houthi terrorist airstrikes.
While talking to reporters in Hawaii, Hegseth said, "So you're talking about a deceitful and highly discredited so called journalist who's made a profession of peddling hoaxes time and time again to include the, I don't know, the hoaxes of Russia, Russia, Russia, or the fine people on both sides hoax suckers and losers. Hope so. This is the guy that pedals in garbage. This is what he does. I would love to comment on the Houthi campaign because of the skill and courage of our troops."
" I've monitored it very closely from the beginning, and you see we've been managing four years of deferred maintenance under the Trump administration. Our troops, our sailors were getting shot at as targets our ships couldn't sail through. And when they did shoot back, it was purely defensively or at shacks in Yemen. President Trump said, no more. We will re establish deterrence, we will open freedom of navigation, and we will ultimately decimate the Houthis, which is exactly what we're doing as we speak from the beginning, overwhelmingly," he added.
At the last he said, "Nobody was texting war plans. And that's all I have to say about that."
What Atlantic's editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg claimed?
The Atlantic's editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg claimed that the Donald Trump administration officials inadvertently included him in a classified group just before the US launched military strikes against the Houthis.
The classified group chat, named "Houthi PC small group," included high-level discussions about the impending military operation, with National Security Adviser Mike Waltz coordinating the US response to Houthi aggression.
According to Goldberg, this Signal group had 18 participants. Besides Waltz, some of the members were individuals who identified themselves as vice president JD Vance, defense secretary Petev Hegseth, secretary of state Marco Rubio, director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, treasury secretary Scott Bessent, CIA director John Ratcliffe, Trump's Middle East and Ukraine envoy Steve Witkoff, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, homeland security adviser Stephen Miller, and others.
What was in the group chat?
The leaked messages revealed internal discussions and concerns over the operation’s timing. Vance, writing from Michigan while attending an economic event, expressed skepticism about proceeding with the strikes.
"Team, I am out for the day doing an economic event in Michigan. But I think we are making a mistake." He added, "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."
According to The Atlantic, Joe Kent, Trump's nominee for the National Counterterrorism Center, supported Vance saying, "There is nothing time sensitive driving the time line. We'll have the exact same options in a month." Goldberg said he "had hours of advance notice" about the strikes.
"I knew two hours before the first bombs exploded that the attack might be coming. The reason I knew this is that Pete Hegseth had texted me the war plan at 11.44 am. The plan included precise information about weapons packages, targets, and timing," the veteran journalist wrote in a piece on the website.
The strikes commenced at approximately 1.45 pm Eastern time, with explosions reported across Sanaa, Yemen's capital. Following the operation, officials shared congratulatory messages in the group.National Security Adviser Michael Waltz praised the "amazing job," while CIA Director John Ratcliffe termed it "A good start." Other participants, including "MAR" (believed to be Marco Rubio), wrote "Good Job Pete and your team!!" White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles added, "Kudos to all – most particularly those in theater and CENTCOM! Really great. God bless."
'It was reckless not to check who was on the thread'
A senior Trump administration official told Politico, "It was reckless not to check who was on the thread. It was reckless to be having that conversation on Signal. You can't have recklessness as the national security adviser."
The official confirmed ongoing discussions regarding Waltz's position.
"Half of them saying he's never going to survive or shouldn't survive," the official revealed.
A different official indicated Trump has communicated with Waltz following the report's publication, despite initially claiming unawareness of The Atlantic's article.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated, "President Trump continues to have the utmost confidence in his national security team, including National Security Advisor Mike Waltz."
