WASHINGTON — Members of Congress and national security staffers were stunned t9day by a bombshell report that top Trump administration officials — including the vice president and Defense secretary — discussed war plans in a Signal group chat.
Many raised concerns about the potential mishandling of classified information as well as sensitive details regarding U.S. war plans.
“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.”
“Get the fuck out,” said one Democratic congressional aide, capturing a general feeling on Capitol Hill that important security protocols had been broken. It’s an “operational security nightmare,” the person said. The aide, and others, were granted anonymity to be candid about a sensitive security issue involving the administration.
“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. (Francis Chung/POLITICO)
In the report in The Atlantic, the magazine’s editor revealed that he had accidentally been added to a group chat on the secure messaging app Signal where senior members of the Trump administration were discussing plans for airstrikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen. In the hours before a recent wave of strikes on Yemen, an account attributed to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted detailed operational information about the targets, weapons and attack sequencing.
Inside the Pentagon, officials expressed shock that the officials used a Signal chat for such sensitive discussions.
“No, no they didn’t,” said one Defense official. “Just absolutely unbelievable.”
“DOD either doesn’t have a strong cybersecurity posture right now, or Hegseth is simply not engaging it,” said a second Defense official.
According to The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg received a request to connect on the encrypted messaging app Signal from a user named “Mike Waltz” on Mar. 11. He was later added to a group chat called “Houthi PC small group” with several other members who appeared to be top administration officials, including Hesgeth, Vice President JD Vance, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
Brian Hughes, the spokesperson for the National Security Council, told the publication that the chat “appears to be an authentic message chain.” The NSC did not respond to a request for further comment from POLITICO.
Several highly sensitive, potentially classified pieces of information were included in the chat. Ratcliffe listed the name of an active intelligence officer, whose identities are usually kept closely under wraps, as his point of contact for the discussion.
The government has classified communications systems in which officials can discuss sensitive information. National security experts questioned why senior Trump administration officials would resort to using Signal, a freely available app developed by a nonprofit, to discuss battle plans.
“Why in the world would you not use a high side, what we call the high side system, a secure classified system, to be discussing imminent war plans,” said Mark Zaid, a lawyer who has represented current and former national security officials and whistleblowers.
The top Democrats on key committees were quick to condemn the security lapse.
“This administration is playing fast and loose with our nation’s most classified info, and it makes all Americans less safe,” Sen. Mark Warner (Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee wrote on X.
“Every single one of the government officials on this text chain have now committed a crime – even if accidentally – that would normally involve a jail sentence,” said Sen. Chris Coon of Delaware, the top Democrat on the panel that controls the Pentagon budget. “We can’t trust anyone in this dangerous administration to keep Americans safe.”
Some used it as an opportunity to hit back at the Trump administration’s foreign policy.
“Amateur hour,” Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), 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.”
But the consternation wasn’t limited to Democrats. Republican Rep. Don Bacon (Neb.), who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, said that while it’s human to “accidentally send the wrong person a text,” the reports are concerning.
“The unconscionable action was sending this info over non-secure networks,” Bacon said. “None of this should have been sent on non-secure systems. Russia and China are surely monitoring his unclassified phone.”
Asked about the Atlantic story, Sen. John Cornyn from Texas said, “It sounds like a huge screw-up. … Is there any other way to describe it?”
Asked if he thought there should be an investigation, he said “I would hope that the inter-agency would look at that. That just sounds like somebody dropped the ball.”
The CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It’s unclear how Goldberg came to be added to the group chat of senior Trump administration officials. Zaid, the national security lawyer, noted that it could have been worse.
“It proved to be a good thing I guess that it was Jeff and the Atlantic,” he said. “If it had gone to someone else, it may very well have been reported on immediately and required the scuttling of the entire operation.”
By AMY MACKINNON. ROBBIE GRAMER, PAUL MCLEARY and JACK DETSCH/Politico
Eric Bazail-Eimil and Jordain Carney contributed to this report.
