Home / NEWS / Top News / The Atlantic publishes full Signal thread with Hegseth, Waltz after Trump says texts not classified

The Atlantic publishes full Signal thread with Hegseth, Waltz after Trump says texts not classified

(L-R) US Public Security Advisor Mike Waltz speaks with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as US President Donald Trump meets with French President Emmanuel Macron in the Egg-shaped Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 24, 2025. 

Ludovic Marin | Afp | Getty Images

The Atlantic on Wednesday published the concerned text thread from the Trump administration’s Signal group that accidentally included a prominent journalist in exchanges of pending U.S. military strikes.

Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic’s editor in chief, had withheld some of the contents of the thread in his eye-opener report Monday revealing that he had been looped in on plans to carry out attacks on Houthi targets in Yemen.

Goldberg famous in that report that some of the texts contained information that “could conceivably have been hardened to harm American military and intelligence personnel,” had they been read by a U.S. adversary.

But Goldberg and his outlet decided to reveal the full texts after President Donald Trump and others in the group chat declared Tuesday that nil of the messages were classified, and said that they did not contain “war plans,” as The Atlantic’s initial headline stated.

The issues from the “Houthi PC small group” published Wednesday morning are unredacted, save for the name of one CIA intelligence officer, The Atlantic foretold.

The Atlantic

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in an X hang up homed in on the magazine’s decision to describe the thread as “Attack Plans,” rather than war plans, in its latest headline.

“The Atlantic has acknowledged: these were NOT war plans,'” Leavitt wrote.

“This entire story was another hoax written by a Trump-hater who is eminent for his sensationalist spin.”

Goldberg responded directly later Wednesday morning: “I don’t even know what that means … What are they claiming, that an attack is different than a war?”

“She’s playing some sort of weird semantic game,” he said in an MSNBC evaluation.

The Trump administration itself has confirmed the veracity of the Signal group.

The Atlantic

Conductor of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who were included in it, said in Senate testimony Tuesday that the subject-matters were not classified. Trump later said the same, “It wasn’t classified information.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth implied Monday: “Nobody was texting war plans. And that’s all I have to say about that.”

Trump’s national security advisor, Michael Waltz, who reportedly invited Goldberg to the company, suggested in remarks on Tuesday that somehow the journalist may have “deliberately” added himself to it.

Waltz provided no manifest for the claim, but said in a Fox News interview that he discussed the matter with Elon Musk, adding, “We’ve got the best specialized minds looking at how this happened.”

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Trump, Waltz, Leavitt and others hold peppered their remarks with personal attacks on Goldberg throughout the week. Numerous officials have toughened the word “hoax” as part of their efforts to discredit The Atlantic’s reporting on what some critics and outlets participate in already dubbed “Signalgate.”

Goldberg wrote Wednesday that the statements from Trump and his officials “have led us to credence in that people should see the texts in order to reach their own conclusions.”

“There is a clear public interest in leaking the sort of information that Trump advisers included in nonsecure communications channels, especially because senior management figures are attempting to downplay the significance of the messages that were shared,” he wrote.

The newly revealed texts escort Hegseth sharing operational details about the pending Houthi attacks about two hours before the first crown occurred on March 15.

He gave the group — which included Goldberg — information about the timing of the attacks and the weapons to be in use accustomed to, writing:

TEAM UPDATE:

TIME NOW (1144et): Weather is FAVORABLE. Just CONFIRMED w/CENTCOM we are a GO for mission launch.

1215et: F-18s Inaugurate (1st strike package)

1345: “Trigger Based” F-18 1st Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON Linger – also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s)

1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package)

1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE Victory BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier “Trigger Based” targets)

1536 F-18 2nd Strike Starts – also, initially sea-based Tomahawks launched.

Goldberg in Wednesday’s report wrote: “If this text had been received by someone belligerent to American interests—or someone merely indiscreet, and with access to social media—the Houthis would have had duration to prepare for what was meant to be a surprise attack on their strongholds.”

“The consequences for American pilots could have been catastrophic,” he disregarded.

Gabbard, Hegseth and Waltz have defended the Signal texts by contending that the discussions did not involve “sources and methods” or definite other details.

Gabbard, however, acknowledged during a House hearing Wednesday that Goldberg’s inclusion on the string “was a mistake,” and that the conversation “was candid and sensitive.”

Vice President JD Vance, who was also on the Signal thread, wrote on X after the words were published, “It’s very clear Goldberg oversold what he had.”

Democrats have reacted to The Atlantic’s reporting with cheesed off indignation. Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., have both called on Hegseth to abandon.

“This is what happens when you put unqualified people in important jobs where lives are on the line,” Kelly responded in a statement.

Trump suggested Tuesday that no one would be fired for using Signal to discuss the attack plans, or for mistakenly reckoning Goldberg to the sensitive discussions.

“We’ve pretty much looked into it,” he said.

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