It was, depending on perspective, either one of the most serious breaches of US national security in living memory or just another Monday at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
As Washington DC faced another rush-hour commute, secretary of defence Pete Hegseth alighted a military plane in sunny lunchtime Hawaii, where he stopped to speak to reporters and talked up the merits of the trip. But he knew the question was coming. What did he have to say about an Atlantic magazine story that he had shared US war plans on an internal messaging group in which the same magazine’s editor had been accidentally included?
“You are talking about a deceitful and highly discredited so-called journalist who has made a profession of peddling hoaxes time and time again to include the, I don’t know, the hoaxes of ‘Russia, Russia, Russia’ or the ‘fine people on both sides’ hoax or the ‘suckers and losers’ hoax. This is a guy who peddles in garbage,” Hegseth replied.
“It’s what he does. I would love to comment on the Houthi campaign because of the skill and courage of our troops.”
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Hegseth gave a sardonic laugh as he spoke but denied any war plans had been shared and did not hang around for further questions. His answer explained nothing.
On X, Elon Musk decided laughter was also the best response to an internal administrative crisis. “Best place to hide a dead body is page 2 of The Atlantic magazine, because no one ever goes there,” he quipped, a post that was later reposted by president Trump.
Republican representatives, when asked to account for Musk’s disproportionate influence in the administration, habitually point out his dazzling brilliance. But Musk’s post begs an obvious question. If it’s true that nobody reads the Atlantic, and if that magazine is carrying a story which is gravely consequential and enormously damaging to the reputation of secretary Hegseth and the behaviour of Trump cabinet members responsible for national security, then why draw attention to it by posting about it to your 219 million followers?
It would be interesting to know whether Atlantic magazine traffic spiked after Musk flagged the story written by its editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg.
For reasons yet unclear, Goldberg was, he explained in the story published on Monday, erroneously invited and then included in a group chat on Signal, the heavily encrypted messaging service.
Over the course of four days, Goldberg was privy to the private messaged conversations of the inner sanctum of the Trump cabinet, including vice-president Vance, Hegseth, secretary of state Marco Rubio, director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA director John Ratcliffe and chief of staff Susie Wiles. The invitation came from national security adviser Mike Waltz. For several days, Goldberg was highly sceptical about the authenticity of the group. So, he silently observed the messages.
“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.
The Yemen strike plans on Houthi rebels were shared in the group on March 15th. It was not until the bombings were internationally reported two hours later that Goldberg was finally convinced that he had, somehow, been included in this group. Nobody seemed to notice that “JG” did not join in any of the conversations. Nor was there any apparent reaction when he dropped off the group – when he began to write the story which contained at least one sentence which justifies the tag of bombshell.
“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 11.44am. The plan included precise information about the weapons, packages, targets, and timing,” he wrote.
That Goldberg, of all people, was the journalist mistakenly invited to join the group will pain Trump as he belongs to the (not-inconsiderable) number of American media establishment figures for whom the president reserves a special animus. Hegseth leaned into this with his early defence-by-reputational-attack. But he will face more stringent questions in the days ahead.
The lapse presents a perfect snapshot of the fears and warnings about defence secretary Hegseth’s lack of qualifications and suitability for the enormous role of defence secretary. The response in Washington and nationally to the leak was one of stunned disbelief on the part of the Democrats and former military officials, and muted reactions from the Republicans. President Trump said, when asked about Goldberg’s article just before noon, he had heard nothing about the story.
“I don’t know anything about it. I’m not a big fan of the Atlantic. To me it’s a magazine that’s going out of business. I think it’s not much of a magazine. But you are saying they had what? Having to do with what? You mean the attack on the Houthis? Well, it couldn’t have been very effective because the attack on the Houthis was very effective, I can tell you that. I don’t know anything about it. You are telling me about it for the first time.”
Less than two years have passed since Hegseth, in his previous life as a Fox News analyst, opined in relation to Joe Biden’s classified documents inquiry, with heavy criticisms for the-then president.
New York Democratic congressman Pat Ryan posted on Monday night: “I served two combat tours in Iraq as an Army Intelligence Officer. If I did what Sec.Def. did, I’d be in prison,” arguing that it is incumbent on FBI director Kash Patel to launch an investigation.
The questions will go beyond Hegseth, however. That none in the group raised an issue with the use of Signal – where conversations can be set to delete – drew instant alarm.
“It was shocking and all the things I have seen in the last few weeks it has taken a lot to feel genuinely shocked but this is genuinely shocking,” said Pete Buttigieg, former transport secretary during the Biden administration, before describing the considered administration response as a test of integrity for both the FBI and Congress. “This is incredibly serious stuff.”
The Republican senator from Maine, Susan Collins, stated that the idea of sharing such sensitive information on a nonsecure platform is “extremely troubling and serious”.
Louisiana senator John Kennedy, also a Republican, told the New York Times that the error was just that. “This is not keeping the people of America up at night,” he said.
Which is true – for now.
