By Louis Oelofse,
WASHINGTON United States
The White House on Monday confirmed that top Trump administration officials inadvertently included a journalist in a group chat about US military plans.
The chat on the Signal
messaging app about upcoming military strikes reportedly included several
members of President Donald Trump's
cabinet, including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary
of Defense Pete Hegseth.
The editor of The Atlantic magazine, Jeffrey Goldberg, published a story on Monday in
which he said he initially thought it could not be real.
"I had very strong doubts
that this text group was real, because I could not believe that the
national-security leadership of the United States would communicate on Signal
about imminent war plans," he wrote.
Goldberg was in the group chat
where plans for airstrikes
on Houthi rebels in Yemen were discussed.
On March 15, the US
targeted rebel strongholds in Yemen.
Goldberg wrote that he had
hours of advance notice via the group chat. He was still under the impression
the chat group was fake, but when the US strikes on Yemen were reported, he
realized it was real.
"Having come to this
realization, one that seemed nearly impossible only hours before, I removed
myself from the Signal group," he wrote.
On Monday, National Security
Council spokesman Brian Hughes told the AFP news agency, "The message
thread that was reported appears to be authentic, and we are reviewing how an
inadvertent number was added to the chain."
Asked about his cabinet
members using Signal to discuss military plans, Trump said, "I don't know
anything about it."
Later, White House Press
secretary Karoline Leavitt said, "President Trump continues to have
the utmost confidence in his national security team, including National
Security Advisor Mike Waltz," who seemingly added Goldberg to the chat.
Hegseth meanwhile denied to
reporters that war plans were shared.
"Nobody was texting war
plans, and that's all I have to say about that," Hegseth told reporters in
Hawaii.
He also said Goldberg was
"deceitful" and a "discredited so-called journalist,"
referring to The Atlantic's critical reporting of President
Trump.
Congressional Democrats were
however demanding action be taken.
The top House
Democrat, Hakeem Jeffries, says Congress should investigate to
understand what happened and to prevent "this type of national security
breach from ever happening again."
"If House Republicans
won't hold a hearing on how this happened IMMEDIATELY, I'll do it my damn
self," Pat Ryan, a Democrat who sits on the Armed Services Committee,
wrote on social media.
Senator Elizabeth Warren
called it "blatantly illegal and dangerous beyond belief."
"What other highly
sensitive national security conversations are happening over group chat? Any
other random people accidentally added to those, too?"
Shortly after Israel's war in
Gaza started following Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023,
the Houthis began firing missiles at Israel and international shipping lanes in
the Red Sea.
The Iran-backed group said it
was a bid to support Hamas and the Palestinians. US President Joe Biden ordered
several strikes against the Houthis but largely failed to restore stability to
the region.
The missions were carried out
with military backing from European countries including the UK and Germany.
During the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas earlier this year, Houthi militia
paused their attacks but resumed them after Israel resumed operations in Gaza.
In the Signal group chat, a
person identified as Vice President Vance expressed doubts about fresh US
strikes on the Houthis, saying he hated "bailing Europe out again."
A person, purportedly National
Security Advisor Mike Waltz, said only the US had the capability to carry out
the mission.
A person believed to be
Hegseth noted that he shared Vance's "loathing of European
freeloading."
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