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The Atlantic published more messages Wednesday from a Signal group chat with top Trump officials about the administration’s plans for missile strikes on March 15 in Yemen, showing that officials inadvertently shared military operational details with the outlet’s editor.
A new chat said in all caps, “Team update:”
“TIME NOW (1144et): Weather is FAVORABLE. Just CONFIRMED w/CENTCOM we are a GO for mission launch,” the message said.
Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg received the messages after inadvertently being added to the Signal group chat with administration officials including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice President J.D. Vance, National Security Adviser Michael Waltz and National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard.
Mr. Waltz took responsibility Tuesday for mistakenly adding the journalist to the group chat.
The outlet’s new disclosures came as Ms. Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe were testifying to the House Intelligence Committee on global threats. They told the Senate intelligence committee on Tuesday that no classified material was shared on the group chat.
SEE ALSO: White House reaffirms support of Waltz, dismisses Atlantic story as distraction
They also told senators that no “war plans” had been disclosed in advance.
Even President Trump himself seemed to brush it off, at first saying he didn’t know what the situation was, then saying Mr. Waltz should not have been criticized so heavily.
But the new chats released Wednesday seem to outline the exact plans for the day the airstrikes were going to happen — March 15.
The messages include a text from Mr. Hegseth with times and sequencing of planned U.S. strikes against Houthi rebels.
At 12:15 p.m. ET, Mr. Hegseth texted, “F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package).”
Another: “1345: ’Trigger Based’ F-18 1st Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME – also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s).”
SEE ALSO: Vance says Atlantic’s editor ‘oversold’ content of Signal chat contents
And: “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).”
“1536 F-18 2nd Strike Starts – also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched.”
“MORE TO FOLLOW (per timeline).”
“We are currently clean on OPSEC”—that is, operational security.
“Godspeed to our Warriors.”
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement Wednesday, “It’s no surprise hoax-peddlers at the Atlantic have already abandoned their ’war plans’ claim. These additional Signal chat messages confirm there were no classified materials or war plans shared.”
“The Secretary [Mr. Hegseth] was merely updating the group on a plan that was underway and had already been briefed through official channels,” he said. “The American people see through the Atlantic’s pathetic attempts to distract from President Trump’s national security agenda.”
In an X post Wednesday, Mr. Waltz defended himself, saying, “No locations. No sources & methods. NO WAR PLANS. Foreign partners had already been notified that strikes were imminent. BOTTOM LINE: President Trump is protecting America and our interests.”
The White House has maintained its support of Mr. Waltz and continues to rail against The Atlantic.
“We stand by Mike Waltz; he’s doing a tremendous job. I think this a distraction,” White House counselor Aliana Habba told reporters Wednesday at the White House. “Look, it is what it is. At the end of the day, this is – in my opinion – something that they’re making a bid to do about nothing. A reporter trying to get clout.”
Mr. Vance said in a post that the “only one who ’endangered’ America’s national security was Jeffrey Goldberg himself,” and said releasing the chat chain “was reckless and dangerous.”
Mr. Goldberg defended himself Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” saying, “at a certain point, the administration is saying that there’s nothing classified or secret or sensitive in these.”
“I just felt, you know, let our readers decide for themselves. Read these texts that I got sitting in my car on my phone in a Safeway parking lot two hours before the attack launched and you tell me if this seems like good operational security,” he said.
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