Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks out after Trump administration accidentally sends US war plans to group chat with journalist

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has spoken out on claims he was 'texting US war plans' into a group chat which a journalist had accidentally been added to.

Today, Atlantic magazine editor-in-chief released a shocking report claiming he had been accidentally added to a Signal message group, where US officials allegedly discussed plans for US strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen.

In the damning report, Goldberg claims he received a connection request from someone who appeared to be White House National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, but he 'did not assume that the request was from the actual Michael Waltz'.

He says he was then added to a group message, where he witnessed classified US military plans 'including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying' two hours before the bombs struck.

Landing in Hawaii earlier today (March 25), Hegseth went on the attack, telling reporters: "You're talking about a deceitful and highly discredited so-called journalist who's made a profession of peddling hoaxes time and time again... This is a guy who peddles in garbage."

When pushed further on the issue, he said: "Nobody was texting war plans and that's all I have to say."

Despite Hegseth denying the claims, National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes said the leaked messages appeared to be 'authentic.'

"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," he told the BBC.

"The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy co-ordination between senior officials."

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says 'nobody was texting war plans' (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

A number of senior Trump administration officials are believed to have been in the message group, including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard, however President Donald Trump says he was unaware of the incident.

Goldberg has since hit out at Hegseth's comments, branding them a 'lie'.

"He was texting war plans. He was texting attack plans. When targets were going to be targeted. How they were going to be targeted. Who was at the targets. When the next sequence of attacks were happening," he told CNN, adding that he didn't publish the plans "because it felt like it was too confidential."

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."