Journalist reveals the leaked US war plans he was sent after being accidentally added to Trump group chat
Niamh Shackleton
Featured Image Credit: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
The journalist who was accidentally added to a top secret government chat has revealed what some of the texts said.
The Atlantic's editor Jeffrey Goldberg was mistaken added to a highly confidential chat on Signal earlier this month in the run up to the US ordering bomb strikes in Yemen.
It's since been revealed that it was national security adviser Mike Waltz (or a member of his team) who added Goldberg to the chat.
He was unexpectedly added to group chat on March 13, two days before the attacks.
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In a statement, Goldberg said: "The statements by Hegseth, Gabbard, Ratcliffe, and Trump—combined with the assertions made by numerous administration officials that we are lying about the content of the Signal texts—have led us to believe that people should see the texts in order to reach their own conclusions.
"There is a clear public interest in disclosing the sort of information that Trump advisers included in nonsecure communications channels, especially because senior administration figures are attempting to downplay the significance of the messages that were shared."
The rest of the world learnt of the attacks after they happened, but Goldberg was privy to such information two hours before.
One of the texts he received on the day in question from Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, read: "TIME NOW (1144et): Weather is FAVORABLE. Just CONFIRMED w/CENTCOM we are a GO for mission launch. Centcom, or Central Command, is the military’s combatant command for the Middle East."
The next message read "1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package)." This was then followed with: "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)."
Hegseth went on to outline that the second strike would begin at 15:36. Responding to the detailed plan, Vice-President JD Vance said: "I will say a prayer for victory."
Not long after, Waltz text the group to confirm that a building had collapsed in the strike that was believed to have the Houthis group's 'top missile guy' inside of it.
"Excellent," Vance replied to the news. Others in the chat proceeded to applaud Hegseth and his team for their efforts.
The full exchange can be read here.
The Trump administration's faux pas of adding Goldberg to the chat has raised a lot of eyebrows, but the POTUS himself seems somewhat unfazed by it all.
Speaking in a phone interview with NBC News, Trump said: "Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man."
He also said that Goldberg being in the chat had 'no impact at all' on the military operation.
Trump went on to say that the debacle was 'the only glitch in two months, and it turned out not to be a serious one'.
It might not have ended up serious, but Goldberg has pointed out that it easily could have been.
"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," he told PBS.
LADbible Group has contacted The White House for comment.