
Topics: US News, News, Politics, Donald Trump
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The journalist who was accidentally invited into a group chat by Trump administration officials has released further messages.
On Tuesday (25 March) The Atlantic's editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg revealed that he had been accidentally invited into a Signal group chat, with over a dozen senior Trump administration officials including Vice President JD Vance, the secretary of state Marco Rubio, secretary of defence Pete Hegseth, and several others.
Goldberg said he received the Signal - an open-source encrypted messaging service - invitation to 'Houthi PC small group' from national security advisor Mike Waltz, who was also in the group chat.
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Now, Goldberg has released further messages, following several members of the Trump administration claiming that there was 'no classified information' or 'war plans' in the exchange.
"The statements by Hegseth, Gabbard, Ratcliffe, and Trump—combined with the assertions made by numerous administration officials that we are lying about the content of the Signal texts—have led us to believe that people should see the texts in order to reach their own conclusions," said Goldberg in a statement.
"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."
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In the newly-released messages, sent on 15 March, Hegseth can be seen describing plans for air strikes on Yemen.
One message appeared to reveal details of timings and weather conditions, reading: “TIME NOW (1144et): Weather is FAVORABLE. Just CONFIRMED w/CENTCOM we are a GO for mission launch.”
The Atlantic explained: "This Signal message shows that the U.S. secretary of defense texted a group that included a phone number unknown to him—Goldberg’s cellphone—at 11:44 a.m.
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"This was 31 minutes before the first U.S. warplanes launched, and two hours and one minute before the beginning of a period in which a primary target, the Houthi 'Target Terrorist,' was expected to be killed by these American aircraft.
"If this text had been received by someone hostile to American interests—or someone merely indiscreet, and with access to social media—the Houthis would have had time to prepare for what was meant to be a surprise attack on their strongholds. The consequences for American pilots could have been catastrophic."
Later in the messages, Waltz responds with the outcome of the strikes.
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Vance and Ratcliffe then later respond with congratulations over the news, while Hegseth confirms that the strikes would be continuing 'for hours'.
“Great job all. More strikes ongoing for hours tonight, and will provide full initial report tomorrow. But on time, on target, and good readouts so far," it read.
You can read the full exchange here.
Following the latest report, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt tweeted: "The Atlantic has conceded: these were NOT 'war plans.'
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"This entire story was another hoax written by a Trump-hater who is well-known for his sensationalist spin."
Tyla has reached out to The White House for comment.