On Wednesday, The Atlantic released a report indicating its belief that “people should see the texts in order to reach their own conclusions.”
The magazine disclosed the actual transcript of U.S. military strategies concerning the Houthi rebels in Yemen, which had been shared by senior officials, despite the Trump administration’s efforts to minimize the controversy. President Trump himself characterized the matter as a “witch hunt” targeting his National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz.
The attack plans were unveiled when Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, was added to a chat group on the Signal messaging app by Waltz. In a post on X, he attempted to downplay the significance of the leak, stating, “No locations. No sources & methods. NO WAR PLANS.”
This disclosure occurred on Wednesday, even as the White House maintained that no classified information had been exposed and labeled Goldberg a “liar.” The article asserted that the magazine believed “people should see the texts in order to reach their own conclusions.”
The chat group included prominent members of the Trump administration, such as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard.
Here are excerpts of the transcript:
Goldberg received an invitation to the group chat from Waltz on March 11, and he said it turned active on March 15 -the day of the US attack on the Houthis in Yemen.
11:44 am EST: “TEAM UPDATE,” Hegseth posted an update.
Hegseth wrote, “TIME NOW (1144et): Weather is FAVORABLE. Just CONFIRMED w/CENTCOM we are a GO for mission launch.”
Hegseth’s text continued as follows:
“1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package)”
“1345: ‘Trigger Based’ F-18 1st Strike Window Starts(Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME –also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s)”
“1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package)”
“1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRSTBOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier ‘Trigger Based’targets)”
“1536 F-18 2nd Strike Starts – also, first sea-basedTomahawks launched.”
“MORE TO FOLLOW (per timeline)”
“We are currently clean on OPSEC” * “Godspeed to our Warriors.”
OPSEC refers to operational security, which means ensuring safety and security of an operation is not violated ahead of its execution, Reuters reported.
1:48 pm: “VP. Building collapsed. Had multiple positive ID. Pete, Kurilla, the IC, amazing job.”
IC refers to the Intelligence Community. Kurilla refers to Army General Michael “Erik” Kurilla, the head of US Central Command which heads military operations in the Middle East.
Vance replied, “What?”
Waltz responded at 2 pm, “Typing too fast. The first target – their top missile guy – we had positive ID of him walking into his girlfriend’s building and it’s now collapsed.”
“Excellent,” Vance replied.
Thirty-five minutes later, Ratcliffe, the CIA director, wrote, “A good start,” to which Waltz replied with a text containing a series of emojis –a fist, an American-flag emoji, and a fire emoji.
Hegseth posted later that afternoon: “CENTCOM was/is on point.”
“Great job all. More strikes ongoing for hours tonight, and will provide full initial report tomorrow. But on time, on target, and good readouts so far,” he added.
