Signalgate: What to Know

Hagan Burnett

Any pronouns

Staff Writer

3/31/25

Between March 11 and March 15, a group of high-ranked members of the Trump administration used an insecure messaging app to communicate highly sensitive information about a military strike on Yemen’s Ansarallah rebel group, more well known as the Houthis. Members of this chat included JD Vance, the Vice President; Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense; Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence; Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, and two still-classified individuals. The information discussed included specific plans for strikes on the Houthis, including timestamps for the aircraft launches, drone launches, and the estimated time of arrival for the payloads. 

Before the strikes began, Micheal Waltz, the National Security Advisor, mistakenly added The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, to the group chat. It is unclear if Waltz was attempting to add another person with a similar name. Regardless, Goldberg now was added to “Houthi PC small group” chat, where several members discussed American foreign policy and strikes on the Houthis. Both J.D. Vance and Hegseth criticized Europe. “I just hate bailing Europe out again,” Vance said, with Hegseth responding: “I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC.” 

Goldberg initially believed that the messages from Hegseth were a hoax, but after joining the chat, he realized he was added by mistake. He did not leak the information before the strike to prevent any potential casualties within the US military during the strike. On March 15th, explosions rocked the capital of Yemen, Sanaa, which is controlled by the Houthis. The Houthis, officially known as Ansarallah and the de facto government of Yemen, have been attacking shipping in the Red Sea since October 19, 2023 in ‘solidarity’ with Palestine, demanding the Israeli invasion of Gaza cease and humanitarian aid be delivered. The Houthis have attacked at least 25 commercial and military ships, with two sunk and one captured. The international community has condemned these attacks. The Biden administration attempted to stop the Houthi attacks, but were unsuccessful. Trump has repeatedly said that he will be ensuring navigational freedom and redesignate the Houthis as a terrorist organization after the Biden administration removed the moniker to allow international organizations to deliver aid to Yemen. 

 After the strikes on the Houthis, Goldberg published an article stating how he was mistakenly added to the group chat. The article itself did not release any details on the attacks. After his article, a scandal erupted in the government that has subsequently been called “Signalgate.” Top Trump officials denied that classified information was shared. Goldberg then released nearly all of the messages in the chat to the public. The Senate Armed Services Committee has demanded the Pentagon begin an investigation into the leak.