The Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg on Wednesday released the full contents of the Yemen war planning texts that were accidentally shared with him by top U.S. national security officials, a move that came after some of those officials denied that classified information was discussed in the chat.
Shortly after Goldberg revealed that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz apparently inadvertently added him to the group chat, called "Houthi PC small group" on Signal, Waltz and other members of the chat, including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA director John Ratcliffe, claimed variously that no war plans were discussed, none of the texts contained classified information — and that maybe it was Goldberg who had illegally weaseled his way in.
President Donald Trump echoed the talking point Tuesday, telling reporters that “it wasn’t classified information.”
In an article posted Wednesday morning, Goldberg said that those statements "led us to believe that people should see the texts in order to reach their own conclusions."
"There is a clear public interest in disclosing the sort of information that Trump advisers included in nonsecure communications channels, especially because senior administration figures are attempting to downplay the significance of the messages that were shared," Goldberg wrote.
The chat begins with Vice President JD Vance, Ratcliffe, Hegseth and others debating the merits of launching a series of airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, part of the U.S.'s longstanding involvement in a civil war that has killed hundreds and thousands of civilians. At one point, Hegseth worries that waiting too long would give Israel a window to take action first and increase the risk of a leak, which would make the U.S. look "indecisive."
A few hours later, Hegseth texted the details of the impending airstrikes, including a minute-by-minute timeline and the types of weapons that would be used. When Waltz updated the group chat with news that the missiles had caused an apartment building to collapse, Vance said: "Excellent." Walz responded with a fist emoji, an American flag emoji and a fire emoji. Ratcliffe called the strikes a "good start."
The Yemeni health ministry reported that at least 53 people were killed in the strikes.
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