U.S. officials were shocked—and in many cases, horrified—by revelations in The Atlantic that senior members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet had sent detailed operational plans and other likely highly classified information regarding U.S. military strikes on Yemen to a group chat on a messaging app, to which a reporter had been accidentally added.
The Trump administration confirmed the messages, sent over the non-government encrypted app Signal, appear to be authentic but provided no explanation for why senior officials were discussing national defense matters outside of authorized classified government systems.
Almost immediately, senior officials began reviewing the use of Signal, concerned that Trump administration staff were relying too heavily on it for sensitive government work, potentially jeopardizing U.S. national security, according to current and former officials.
Once the story broke, it quickly spread through multiple text threads within the Trump administration, with officials reacting in disbelief, according to sources who spoke to CNN privately.
Several administration officials told CNN they were stunned, with at least two speculating that this could lead to the dismissal of one of their colleagues.
Career national security officials expressed deep concern, telling CNN that conducting such sensitive discussions on an unclassified platform risked exposure to foreign hackers. They emphasized that any other employee who had done the same would likely have been immediately fired and possibly referred for prosecution.
According to The Atlantic, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz initiated a text conversation earlier this month with top U.S. officials, including Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to discuss strikes on Houthi militants in Yemen who had been threatening international shipping in the Red Sea. Waltz, apparently by mistake, added The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to the conversation.
The messages began with a discussion on when to launch the operation, with Goldberg observing. After the strikes were carried out, the officials briefly congratulated themselves on a job well done during a follow-up discussion, before Goldberg exited the thread.
US Officials React in Shock to Sensitive Yemen Strike Plans Shared on Unsecure Messaging App
U.S. officials were left in shock and, for many, horror, after The Atlantic revealed that top members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet had sent detailed, likely highly classified operational plans for U.S. military strikes on Yemen to a group chat on the messaging app Signal, to which a reporter had accidentally been added.
The Trump administration acknowledged the authenticity of the messages, sent over the encrypted, nongovernment app Signal, without offering any explanation for why senior officials were discussing national defense matters outside of authorized, secure government systems.
As soon as the story broke, senior officials scrambled to review the use of Signal for sensitive government work, with concerns mounting that such reliance on the app could pose a grave risk to national security. Current and former officials expressed alarm that Signal, though encrypted, was an unclassified platform for such sensitive discussions.
Within the administration, the news spread quickly, with multiple officials privately expressing disbelief. Some speculated that the incident could result in the dismissal of one of their colleagues, while career national security officials expressed deep concern, noting that using an unclassified platform to discuss sensitive operations risked exposing the information to foreign hackers.
“They broke every procedure known to man about protecting operational material before a military strike,” said a former senior intelligence official. “You have a total breakdown in security about a military operation.”
“No,” another official responded flatly when asked if there was any comparable use of Signal during the Biden administration.
Despite these concerns, Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt expressed confidence in his national security team, including National Security Advisor Mike Waltz. However, inside the White House and across key agencies, officials voiced concern about whether new rules should be implemented for internal communications.
“Everyone is on Signal, all day and night,” one official told CNN on the condition of anonymity. “That may well change.”
Although Signal is an open-source app, making its code available for independent scrutiny, state-backed hackers have targeted its users, raising questions about its vulnerability.
A recent report by Mandiant, a Google-owned security firm, revealed that Russian-linked hackers had attempted to infiltrate Signal accounts of Ukrainian military personnel, posing as trusted contacts.
Trump has yet to indicate any plans to fire anyone over the incident. When asked about it, he expressed surprise, stating, “I don’t know anything about it. I’m not a big fan of The Atlantic.”
However, several Trump administration officials noted that not only was the error a major security blunder, but it also added insult to injury by involving journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, with whom Trump has a personal disdain.
When briefed on the situation, Trump reportedly expressed contempt for Goldberg, with sources close to the president noting, “You couldn’t have picked a worse person than Goldberg to add to the chat.”
A Mistake That Would Normally Trigger an Investigation
Using Signal to share classified information and accidentally including a reporter also raised questions about potential violations of federal laws, including the Espionage Act, which criminalizes the mishandling of national defense information.
In normal circumstances, such an incident would likely trigger an investigation by the FBI and the Justice Department’s national security division, according to former Justice Department officials. However, some of the top officials involved in the chat, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, would be responsible for requesting such an investigation, raising doubts about whether one would be initiated.
The Justice Department typically relies on reports from the originating agency – in this case, the Department of Defense – and officials in the discussion have the authority to downgrade the classification of the information, potentially limiting the scope of an investigation.
“If anyone else did it, no question it would be investigated,” said a former Justice official.
Mixed Reactions from Republicans
On Capitol Hill, Republican reactions were mixed. Senator John Cornyn, a senior Texas Republican, described the incident as a “huge screw-up,” adding, “I would hope the interagency would look at that. It sounds like somebody dropped the ball.”
However, House Speaker Mike Johnson downplayed the significance, saying, “What you did see was top-level officials doing their job, executing a plan with precision. Apparently, an inadvertent phone number made it onto that thread. They’ll track that down.”
Security Risks of Mishandling Classified Information
Over the course of the conversation, Defense Secretary Hegseth sent operational details about the upcoming strikes on Yemen, including targets, weapons, and attack sequencing, according to The Atlantic. CIA Director John Ratcliffe also shared information that could be linked to ongoing intelligence operations. All of this information was almost certainly classified at the highest levels.
Former officials expressed alarm at the mishandling of such critical material, warning that the information could have been leaked to the Houthi militants in Yemen, jeopardizing the operation and U.S. troops’ safety.
“If it had been someone other than Goldberg, they could’ve immediately shared the information with the Houthis,” said former CIA Director Leon Panetta. “That could have led to attacks on U.S. facilities, causing casualties among our troops.”
Potential Legal Consequences
Officials pointed out that the use of Signal for sensitive communications violated Pentagon regulations, which prohibit the use of messaging apps like Signal to transmit non-public DoD information. The incident raised concerns about the potential illegal transfer of classified material to an unclassified network, with some suggesting that Hegseth or his team had to manually copy or transfer the information to Signal.
“If anyone else did it, there would be no question it would be investigated,” said a former Justice official.
