Pete Hegseth on Nov. 21, 2024 (left); JD Vance on Feb. 14, 2025. Photo:

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty; Johannes Simon/Getty

• Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, claims that he was inadvertently added to a group chat in which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was allegedly discussing a plan for bombings in Yemen that included exact information about weapons, targets and timing of an attack before it took place
• On March 14, Vice President JD Vance, Hegseth and the other officials in the group chat allegedly discussed the timing of a strike against the Houthis, a group of Yemeni rebels designated as a terrorist organization by the White House
• Representatives for the White House and National Security Council (NSC) could not immediately be reached for comment, but the NSC told CBS News in a statement that the texts appeared to be “authentic”

Several major officials within President Donald Trump’s administration, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance, were allegedly found texting about a military operation to bomb Houthi targets in Yemen in a group chat — and they accidentally included the editor-in-chief of a major political magazine in their conversation.

Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, is recounting in a newly published report that he was inadvertently added to a group chat on the app Signal in which Hegseth was allegedly discussing a plan for bombings in Yemen that included exact information about weapons, targets and timing of an attack before it took place.

According to Goldberg, he received an unexpected connection request on Signal on March 11 from a user with the name “Mike Waltz” — the White House national security advisor. Two days later, he was added to a group chat called “Houthi PC small group,” which he believed to stand for “principals committee.”

Pete Hegseth (left) and JD Vance on Jan. 25, 2025. Kent Nishimura/Getty

The Associated Press has reported that government officials have been known to use Signal, an encrypted messaging app, for correspondence, but it is not classified and can be hacked.

On March 14, Vance, Hegseth and the other officials in the group chat allegedly discussed the timing of a strike against the Houthis, a group of Yemeni rebels designated as a terrorist organization by the White House.

Vance allegedly argued that taking action against the Houthis might benefit Europe amid Trump’s push to make European allies such as Ukraine take stronger actions for their national security.

“I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now. There’s a further risk that we see a moderate to severe spike in oil prices,” Vance wrote, according to Goldberg. “I am willing to support the consensus of the team and keep these concerns to myself. But there is a strong argument for delaying this a month, doing the messaging work on why this matters, seeing where the economy is, etc.”

“VP: I understand your concerns — and fully support you raising w/ POTUS,” Hegseth responded, per The Atlantic. “Important considerations, most of which are tough to know how they play out (economy, Ukraine peace, Gaza, etc). I think messaging is going to be tough no matter what — nobody knows who the Houthis are — which is why we would need to stay focused on: 1) Biden failed & 2) Iran funded.”

“If you think we should do it let’s go. I just hate bailing Europe out again,” Vance reportedly said at another point in the conversation, responding to Hegseth.

“VP,” Hegseth answered, according to the publication, “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. Question is timing. I feel like now is as good a time as any, given POTUS directive to reopen shipping lanes. I think we should go; but POTUS still retains 24 hours of decision space.”

One day later, Hegseth shared additional messages that Goldberg said he would not publish in The Atlantic because they contained information that “could conceivably have been used to harm American military and intelligence personnel, particularly in the broader Middle East, Central Command’s area of responsibility.”

Representatives for the White House and National Security Council (NSC) could not immediately be reached for comment, but the NSC told CBS News in a statement that the texts appeared to be “authentic.”

President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on March 21, 2025. Anna Moneymaker/Getty

“At this time, the message thread that was reported appears to be authentic, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain,” a National Security Council spokesman told the outlet. “The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials. The ongoing success of the Houthi operation demonstrates that there were no threats to our service members or our national security.”

The military operations discussed in the text messages later took place as described by the officials, Goldberg wrote, including dates, times and military strategies.

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Trump later told reporters he was not aware of the incident, according to the Associated Press.

“I know nothing about it,” Trump said, adding that he thinks The Atlantic is “not much of a magazine.”

“I don’t know anything about it. You’re telling me about it for the first time,” he added.