epa11985320 People inspect the damage around a building after US airstrikes in Sana'a, Yemen, 24 March 2025. The Ministry of Health, controlled by the Houthi administration in Sana'a, reported that at least one person was killed and some 15 others were injured in a US airstrike on a residential building in the Ma'in district. EPA/OSAMAH YAHYA
Airstrikes have continued to hit Yemen, as the US fights back against Houthi rebels (Picture: EPA)
Top American national security officials texted war plans for upcoming military strikes in Yemen to a group chat which included the editor-in-chief of a major magazine.
The National Security Council said the text chain, which included Vice President JD Vance and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth ‘appears to be authentic’.
It ‘contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Iran-backed Houthi-rebels in Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the US would be deploying, and attack sequencing’, The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg reported.
It was not immediately clear if the specifics of the military operation were classified, but they often are and at the least are kept secure to protect service members and operational security.
The US has conducted air strikes against the Houthis since the militant group began targeting commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea in November 2023.
Just two hours after Goldberg received the details of the attack on March 15, the US began launching a series of air strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stands by U.S. President Donald Trump, in the Oval Office at the White House, in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 21, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth was in the group chat (Picture: Reuters)
The National Security Council said in a statement that it was looking into how a journalist’s number was added to the chain in the Signal group chat, which included Tulsi Gabbard, Mr Trump’s director of national intelligence, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Goldberg said he received the Signal invitation from Mike Waltz, Trump’s national security adviser, who was also in the group chat.
In a statement late on Monday, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said the president still has the ‘utmost confidence’ in Waltz and the national security team.
Trump told reporters he was not aware of the apparent breach in protocol: ‘I know nothing about it,’ he said, adding that The Atlantic was ‘not much of a magazine’.
Government officials have used Signal for organisational correspondence, but it is not classified and can be hacked.
Privacy and tech experts say the popular end-to-end encrypted messaging and voice call app is more secure than conventional texting.
Messages in the 'Houthi PC small group' chat
‘PC’ stands for principals committee – or senior members of national intelligence.
In one message, Pete Hegseth replied to JD Vance writing:
‘VP: 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.’
A group member named ‘SM’ then replied:
‘As I heard it, the president was clear: green light, but we soon make clear to Egypt and Europe what we expect in return. We also need to figure out how to enforce such a requirement.
‘*EG, if Europe doesn’t remunerate, then what? If the US successfully restores freedom of navigation at great cost there needs to be some further economic gain extracted in return.*‘
US strikes into Yemen escalated last week when these messages were sent.
The sharing of sensitive information comes as Defence Secretary Hegseth’s office has just announced a crackdown on leaks of sensitive information.
The breach in protocol was swiftly condemned by Democratic legislators.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called for a full investigation, saying: ‘This is one of the most stunning breaches of military intelligence I have read about in a very, very long time.’
The handling of national defence information is strictly governed by law under the century-old Espionage Act.
The act includes provisions that make it a crime to remove such information from its ‘proper place of custody’ even through an act of gross negligence.
The Justice Department in 2015 and 2016 investigated whether former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton broke the law by communicating classified information with her aides on a private email server she set up.
The FBI ultimately recommended against charges and none were brought.
In the Biden administration, some officials were given permission to download Signal on their White House-issued phones but were instructed to use the app sparingly, according to a former national security official who served in the Democratic administration.
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