Atlantic Publishes Signal Chat ‘War Plans’ After Trump Administration Denied Their Existence

The Atlantic published the “war plans” it originally withheld in its Monday article revealing that its editor-in-chief had been accidentally added to a Signal group chat with a coalition of cabinet leaders having sensitive foreign policy discussions.

Editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg published a piece on Monday explaining that he had been accidentally added to a group chat on Signal, a secure messaging platform used by many politicians and journalists, by National Security Adviser Mike Waltz. The group chat, named “Houthi PC small group,” included a number of high-ranking cabinet officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Vice President JD Vance.

The cabinet members discussed the military’s plans to bomb the Houthi rebels and had debates over whether the American people would understand why the US was getting involved. Goldberg noted that he was excluding a message from Hegseth in his report because it contained what Goldberg described as “war plans” — he wrote that the message “contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing.”

After administration officials denied that “war plans” were discussed and that no classified information was shared, The Atlantic published the texts Hegseth sent detailing when the U.S. would depart for the attack, the weapons packages used and the order of operations.

Several hours before the U.S. was set to strike the Houthis, Hegseth messaged the “Houthi PC small group” the following:

“TEAM UPDATE: TIME NOW (1144et): Weather is FAVORABLE. Just CONFIRMED w/CENTCOM we are a GO for mission launch. 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).”

The text continues:

“1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package). 1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier ‘Trigger Based’ targets). 1536 F-18 2nd Strike Starts – also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched. MORE TO FOLLOW (per timeline). We are currently clean on OPSEC.  Godspeed to our Warriors.”

And The Atlantic releases the “war plans” text that Pete Hegseth sent to Signal pic.twitter.com/YdYCgJEhvb

— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) March 26, 2025

After Goldberg released his first story, the White House confirmed the authenticity of the messages and said it was investigating how the editor-in-chief ended up in the chat. As the story circulated, administration officials started to deny that any war plans were sent. (RELATED: White House Confirms Hegseth, Waltz & Co. Accidentally Leaked War Planning To Journalist) 

“Nobody was texting war plans. And that’s all I have to say about that,” Hegseth said during a press gaggle Tuesday. 

The Atlantic published its Wednesday article with the headline, “Here Are the Attack Plans That Trump’s Advisers Shared on Signal.”

The administration has since responded, arguing that Goldberg is conceding his original claim of having “war plans” by using the phrasing “attack plans.”

Ahead of publication, The Atlantic let the administration know that they were planning on releasing the texts.

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stressed to The Atlantic that nothing in the chats was classified, but said that the administration nonetheless objected to the release of the texts due to their private nature.

“As we have repeatedly stated, there was no classified information transmitted in the group chat. However, as the CIA Director and National Security Advisor have both expressed today, that does not mean we encourage the release of the conversation. This was intended to be a an [sic] internal and private deliberation amongst high-level senior staff and sensitive information was discussed. So for those reason [sic] — yes, we object to the release,” Leavitt wrote, according to The Atlantic.

The Atlantic has conceded: these were NOT “war plans.”

This entire story was another hoax written by a Trump-hater who is well-known for his sensationalist spin. pic.twitter.com/atGrDd2ymr

— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) March 26, 2025

No locations.

No sources & methods.

NO WAR PLANS.

Foreign partners had already been notified that strikes were imminent.

BOTTOM LINE: President Trump is protecting America and our interests.

— Mike Waltz (@MikeWaltz47) March 26, 2025

“The Atlantic has already abandoned their bullshit ‘war plans’ narrative, and in releasing the full chat, they concede they LIED to perpetuate yet ANOTHER hoax on the American people. What scumbags!” Taylor Budowich, White House deputy chief of staff, tweeted.

“No locations. No sources & methods. NO WAR PLANS. Foreign partners had already been notified that strikes were imminent. BOTTOM LINE: President Trump is protecting America and our interests,” Waltz tweeted.

Following Hegseth’s message in the Signal chat, Waltz responded with more information, according to The Atlantic.

“VP. Building collapsed. Had multiple positive ID. Pete, Kurilla, the IC, amazing job,” Waltz wrote.

After Vance responded with some confusion, Waltz followed up.

“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,” Waltz clarified.

President Trump on Jeffrey Goldberg and The Atlantic:

“The guy’s a total sleaze bag, and The Atlantic is a failed magazine — does very, very poorly…This gives it a little bit of a shot. I’ll tell ya, they’ve made up more stories…” pic.twitter.com/InFnjznFwy

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) March 25, 2025

Amid the controversy, President Donald Trump has stood by Waltz and asked him to investigate how Goldberg entered the chat. The White House also responded to The Atlantic story by calling it a “coordinated effort” to distract from the president’s success in attacking the Houthis. According to the White House, Houthi terrorists have attacked U.S. Navy warships 174 times and commercial vessels 145 times since 2023, during Biden’s administration.

The president and his administration have repeatedly attacked The Atlantic and Goldberg’s credibility. Goldberg is the author of a September 2020 story claiming that Trump canceled a 2018 visit to a French cemetery where American troops are buried and called the fallen soldiers “suckers” and “losers.” The credibility of the story — based on anonymous sources — has come under serious scrutiny, as former national security adviser John Bolton denied Trump ever said “suckers” and “losers.” Bolton also said Trump didn’t make the trip to the cemetery for weather and security reasons.

The Atlantic also published a story in October 2024 detailing an interview with Trump’s former Chief-of-Staff John Kelly, who claimed that the former president said Hitler “did some good things,” wanted generals like the ones that served the Nazi dictator,  and would rule like a fascist. The story also alleged that Trump disparaged a deceased veteran and her family. The story was denied by both Trump administration officials and former officials, as well as the deceased veteran’s family and their lawyer.

“The guy’s a total sleaze bag, and The Atlantic is a failed magazine — does very, very poorly … This gives it a little bit of a shot. I’ll tell ya, they’ve made up more stories…” Trump said on Tuesday.