In a major foot-in-mouth moment for the Donald Trump administration, Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg claimed that he got to know about the plan of US bombing the Houthis two hours before it actually happened because Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth by mistake texted him the war plan.
Goldberg detailed how he was added to a Signal group on March 11 by Donald Trump’s national security adviser Michael Walz. He wrote that he initially thought somebody was probably masquerading as Waltz trying to trap him. Two days later, Goldberg was added to a Signal chat group called ‘Houthi PC small group’.
And then the members started sharing the war plans while Goldberg thought it was part of a disinformation campaign to place journalists in embarrassing positions. “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. I also could not believe that the national security adviser to the president would be so reckless as to include the editor in chief of The Atlantic in such discussions with senior U.S. officials, up to and including the vice president,” he wrote.
JD Vance was against attack on Houthi?
Goldberg’s account then delved into the discussion that unfolded in real time in front of his eye as Vice President JD Vance said, “I think we are making a mistake.”
“3 percent of US trade runs through the suez. 40 percent of European trade does. There is a real risk that the public doesn’t understand this or why it’s necessary. The strongest reason to do this is, as POTUS said, to send a message.”
“I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now. There’s a further risk that we see a moderate to severe spike in oil prices. I am willing to support the consensus of the team and keep these concerns to myself. But there is a strong argument for delaying this a month, doing the messaging work on why this matters, seeing where the economy is, etc.”
‘Only one word for this: FUBAR’
The revelation by Atlantic created a stir as members of Congress and national security staffers sought to know how this happened. “Only one word for this: FUBAR,” Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.), an Army veteran who sits on the Armed Services Committee, wrote on X. “If House Republicans won’t hold a hearing on how this happened IMMEDIATELY, I’ll do it my damn self.”
“Amateur hour,” Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona (D), a Marine veteran, wrote in a post on X. “These are the geniuses that are also selling out Ukraine and destroying our alliances all around the world. No wonder Putin is embarrassing them at the negotiation table.”
