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Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, US News
Gerrard Kaonga
Donald Trump’s team has come under fire after they reportedly added a journalist to an unsecure group chat where plans of an upcoming war attack were being discussed.
The Atlantic magazine's editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg said he was mistakenly added to a Signal message group which included some of Trump’s top officials.
According to Goldberg, the group included Vice-President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and allegedly discussed plans for US strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen.
He said he received a connection request from someone who appeared to be White House National Security Advisor Michael Waltz before he was added. Though he 'did not assume that the request was from the actual Michael Waltz'.
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Goldberg claimed he had seen classified military plans, 'including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying' two hours before the bombs struck.
National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes told the BBC: "At this time, the message thread that was reported appears to be authentic. We are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain.
"The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy co-ordination between senior officials."
Goldberg has said that it is a fortunate mistake that he, and not someone who supported the Houthis, was added.
Speaking to PBS, he said: "If they were going to pick an errant phone number, I mean at least it wasn't somebody who supported the Houthis, because they were actually handing out information that I believe could have endangered the lives of American service people who were involved in that operation."
Trump spoke to reporters on Monday afternoon (March 25) and said that he was not aware of The Atlantic article.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt issued a statement following the incident.
The statement read: "The attacks on the Houthis have been highly successful and effective.
"President Trump continues to have the utmost confidence in his national security team, including National Security Advisor Mike Waltz."
Regardless of the alleged success of the operation, both Republican and Democrat politicians have been taken aback by the situation with some calling for an investigation into the matter.
"This is one of the most stunning breaches of military intelligence that I have read about in a very, very long time," Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said.
Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, said his panel planned to investigate the incident.
"It's definitely a concern," he added. "It appears that mistakes were made."