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The White House confirmed a journalist was mistakenly included in a text group planning military strikes in Yemen. National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said the error is under review.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks next to President Donald Trump, in the Oval Office at the White House, in Washington, DC, US. (IMAGE: REUTERS)
The White House on Monday confirmed that a journalist was included in a text group in which US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and others planned military strikes in Yemen.
“We are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain,” National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said.
The Atlantic magazine published a story by editor Jeffrey Goldberg which said that “US national-security leaders included me in a group chat about upcoming military strikes in Yemen. I didn’t think it could be real. Then the bombs started falling.”
“I, however, knew two hours before the first bombs exploded that the attack might be coming. The reason I knew this is that Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, had texted me the war plan at 11:44 a.m. The plan included precise information about weapons packages, targets, and timing,” Jeffrey Goldberg further added in his piece published on the Atlantic released Monday (local time).
Goldberg received a Signal message from someone claiming to be Michael Waltz, US President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, stating that a high-level government group was being formed to coordinate military action against the Houthis in Yemen.
Initially skeptical, he considered the possibility of impersonation, as it was unusual for a senior official to contact him directly, especially given the Trump administration’s contentious relationship with the press.
What added to the suspicion was the fact that such sensitive military discussions are typically held through secure government channels, not on a commercial messaging app, he wrote in his report.
However, as the conversation progressed, it became clear that the journalist had been mistakenly included in a private government chat where top US officials were planning military strikes.
The first US strikes against Yemen’s Houthis since Trump took office killed 31 people on March 16, with the US president warning “hell will rain down upon” the Iran-backed group if it did not stop attacking shipping.
The Houthis, who have attacked Israel and Red Sea shipping throughout the Gaza war, said children were among those killed.
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Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)
