Sensitive US Military Plans Leaked to Media Through Group Text on Messaging App

The White House has confirmed that Vice President JD Vance, along with several key members of President Trump's national security team, discussed highly sensitive military plans through the messaging app Signal.

Jeffrey Goldberg, an editor at The Atlantic magazine, revealed on Monday that he had been inadvertently included in the conversation, which detailed military strategy leading up to the airstrikes in Yemen. Goldberg explained that he had been added to the group chat by Michael Waltz, the National Security Adviser, which allowed him to observe the conversation for two days before the attack took place.

A White House spokesperson for the National Security Council confirmed that the text thread appeared to be authentic and stated that officials were reviewing the matter. However, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was part of the conversation, dismissed Goldberg's report, stating, "Nobody was texting war plans, and that's all I have to say about that."

The text exchange reportedly included several senior officials, including Vice President Vance, Defense Secretary Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. 

According to the texts, Vice President Vance criticized the airstrikes, arguing that they would send the wrong message to Europe, which he believes should take on more of the military burden. Hegseth, on the other hand, supported the plan but expressed frustration with what he described as European "freeloading."

Goldberg also reported that he had withheld certain screenshots from the group chat to avoid compromising national security. The screenshots, he said, contained sensitive details about the military strikes, including operational plans, weapons, deployments, and attack sequencing.

As the incident continues to generate controversy, lawmakers are reacting. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R) acknowledged the mistake, stating, "The administration has acknowledged it was a mistake, and they'll tighten up and make sure it doesn't happen again."

However, others have called for a more thorough investigation. Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), vice-chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, expressed concern calling it "gross negligence on steroids."

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) suggested the incident was a "simple mistake." 

President Trump, when asked about the leak, denied having any knowledge of it and suggested that the attack on Yemen was still successful despite the breach. "Well, it couldn't have been very effective because the attack was very effective, I can tell you that," Trump said.

Some lawmakers are calling for National Security Adviser Michael Waltz to be removed from his post. Meanwhile, later today, National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe are expected to face tough questions during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing. 

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