Signalgate storm intensifies as journalist releases full secret Houthi airstrike chat

The Atlantic's editor-in-chief who was inadvertently added to a Signal group in which the US Secretary of Defense, Vice President, and others discussed secret military plans has now publicly released the messages.

Journalist Jeffrey Goldberg decided to go full disclosure Wednesday – withholding one message that outed by name a CIA operative in the field – after the White House attempted to play down the significance of the group's discussions.

As we summarized Monday, the scribe was mistakenly invited to a small private group on the encrypted chat app by the Trump administration's National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, allowing the magazine journo to observe chatter between VP JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller, Waltz, and others.

The conversation focused on plans to hit Yemen-based Houthi insurgents with airstrikes on March 15; Goldberg was present in the group during the build up to the assault and the aftermath, and this week disclosed he witnessed on Signal what one would comfortably assume is highly classified military materials.

The editor then today released a copy of that private conversation after Team Trump tried to claim his account of the security fiasco was wrong and that the details weren't classified or even that sensitive. Here are the highlights.

"Godspeed to our warriors. 1215 ET: 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, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s)," wrote Hegseth, who earlier said no war plans were discussed in the group.

We are currently clean on OPSEC — that is, operational security

"1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package)," he continued. "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.

"We are currently clean on OPSEC — that is, operational security."

Good to know the actual times US military pilots take off for combat, and potentially put themselves in harm's way, are neither classified nor a war plan. Neither was the targeted assassination of a suspected missile designer for the Houthi rebels, who was visiting his girlfriend when the apartment block she lived in was leveled by the American airstrike.

"The first target - their top missile guy - we had a positive ID of him walking into his girlfriend’s building and it’s now collapsed," wrote Waltz.

"Excellent," replied Vance, to which Waltz responded with three emojis: A fist, an American flag, and a flame. President Trump's Ukraine and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who logged into the chat while physically in Russia, added emojis of his own: Two prayers, a pumped up bicep, and two American flags.

Vice President Vance also had some blunt opinions on what were once America's European allies. He said any airstrikes and the creation of safer shipping routes in the region as a result would benefit Europe more than America, claiming that three percent of US cargo passed through the Suez Canal compared to 40 percent of European goods.

I fully share your loathing of European free-loading

"I just hate bailing Europe out again," the VP wrote. "Let's just make sure our messaging is right here."

Hegseth also was not a fan of the continent. "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," he wrote.

On Tuesday Waltz went on Fox News and said either he had accidentally added Goldberg or there was some other explanation. But there is no other explanation: The Atlantic's coverage shows him inviting Goldberg into the group.

"We're going to get to the bottom of it," Waltz said. Then, referring to the President's éminence grease Elon Musk: "I talked to Elon on the way here; we've got the best technical minds looking at how this happened."

President Trump earlier remarked, "Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man," and added the affair was merely a "glitch."

Secretary Hegseth is right now in Asia. In a hearing Tuesday before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Director of National Intelligence Gabbard said the Houthi Signal chat she was a member of did not contain classified info. On Wednesday she was in front of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and when pressed on her characterization of the discussion the day before, she claimed she had "misremembered" its contents.

"My answer yesterday was based on my recollection, or the lack thereof, on the details that were posted there," she waffled.

President Trump says he has full confidence in his cabinet. ®

PS: A 19-year-old member of Elon Musk's federal cost-cutting DOGE unit, who had the online nickname Big Balls, once provided support to a cybercrime gang "that bragged about trafficking in stolen data and cyberstalking an FBI agent," Reuters alleged Wednesday.