The Atlantic has published the full text of a Signal group chat among senior Trump administration national security officials, revealing that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared precise details of military operations against Yemen’s Houthis. The chat logs indicate that Hegseth provided exact times of warplane launches, strike packages, and targets before the aircraft were airborne.
The release follows intense scrutiny over how information that officials say should have been classified ended up in an unclassified group chat, which included The Atlantic’s Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg. Hegseth, currently traveling in the Indo-Pacific, has dismissed questions about the controversy, insisting he did not disclose war plans. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe told the Senate Intelligence Committee that it was Hegseth’s decision to determine whether the information was classified.
The messages contained highly specific operational details, including:
- “1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package)”
- “1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP)”
- “1536 F-18 2nd Strike Starts – also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched.”
Vice President JD Vance and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt have both lashed out at the publication, once again calling the claims a ‘hoax’.
Leavitt dismissed the incident as a “hoax” perpetrated by a known Trump critic, asserting that the messages did not contain classified “war plans.”
Goldberg reportedly sought the White House’s stance before publishing the chat logs and was told they would prefer he did not release them.
The leak has sparked sharp reactions. Senator Jon Ossoff called it an “embarrassment,” arguing that sensitive military details should not be casually discussed in a group chat. Democratic lawmakers have criticised the administration for its handling of classified information, while former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton posted on social media, “You have got to be kidding me,” referencing Trump’s past attacks on her email use.
Trump has downplayed the incident, describing it as “the only glitch in two months” and stating it was “not a serious one.” He also defended National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, who reportedly added Goldberg to the chat by mistake. Waltz acknowledged the error on Fox News, saying, “We made a mistake. We’re moving forward,” and took full responsibility.
Despite Democratic criticism, administration officials insist no classified information was shared. Ratcliffe and Gabbard testified that the messages did not include classified material, though The Atlantic reported they contained details on weapons, targets, and timing. When pressed on whether such information should have been classified, Gabbard deferred to the Defense Secretary.
Complete chat:
Michael Waltz – 4:28 PM
Team—establishing a principals group for coordination on Houthis, particularly over the next 72 hours. My deputy, Alex Wong, is pulling together a tiger team at the deputies/agency Chief of Staff level following up from the meeting in the Sit Room this morning for action items and will be sending that out later this evening.
Please provide the best staff POC from your team for us to coordinate with over the next couple of days and over the weekend.
MAR
Mike Needham for State.
JD Vance
Andy Baker for VP.
TG
Joe Kent for DNI.
Scott B
Dan Katz for Treasury.
Pete Hegseth
Dan Caldwell for DoD.
Brian
Brian McCormack for NSC.
Today
Michael Waltz – 8:05 AM
Team, you should have a statement of conclusions with taskings per the President’s guidance this morning in your high-side inboxes.
State and DoD, we developed suggested notification lists for regional allies and partners.
Joint Staff is sending a more specific sequence of events this morning for the coming days, and we will work with DoD to ensure COS, OVP, and POTUS are briefed.
JD Vance – 8:16 AM
Team, I am out for the day doing an economic event in Michigan, but I think we are making a mistake.
Three percent of US trade runs through the Suez. Forty 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. But I am not sure the President is aware of how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now.
There’s also a risk of a moderate to severe spike in oil prices. I am willing to support the consensus of the team and keep these concerns to myself. However, there is a strong argument for delaying this by a month, doing the messaging work on why this matters, seeing where the economy is, etc.
Joe Kent – 8:22 AM
There is nothing time-sensitive driving the timeline. We’ll have the exact same options in a month. The Israelis will likely take strikes & therefore ask us for more support to replenish whatever they use against the Houthis. But that’s a minor factor.
I will send you the unclassified data we pulled on BAM shipping.
John Ratcliffe – 8:26 AM
From the CIA perspective, we are mobilizing assets to support now, but a delay would not negatively impact us. Additional time would allow us to identify better starting points for coverage on Houthi leadership.
Pete Hegseth – 8:27 AM
VP, I understand your concerns—and fully support you raising them with POTUS. Important considerations, most of which are tough to predict (economy, Ukraine peace, Gaza, etc.). Messaging is going to be tough no matter what—nobody knows who the Houthis are—which is why we must stay focused on:
Biden failed. Iran funded.
Waiting a few weeks or a month does not fundamentally change the calculus.
Two immediate risks of waiting: this leaks, and we look indecisive. Israel takes an action first—or the Gaza ceasefire falls apart—and we don’t get to start this on our own terms.
We are prepared to execute, and if I had the final go/no-go vote, I believe we should. This is not about the Houthis; I see it as restoring freedom of navigation—a core national interest—and reestablishing deterrence, which Biden cratered.
That said, we can easily pause. If we do, I will do all I can to enforce 100% OPSEC. I welcome other thoughts.
Michael Waltz – 8:32 AM
The trade figures we have are: 15% of global trade, 30% of container trade. It’s difficult to break this down specifically to US trade because much of the container cargo is either going through the Red Sea or around the Cape of Good Hope before becoming manufactured goods for transatlantic trade with the United States.
Whether we proceed today or not, European navies do not have the capability to defend against the sophisticated anti-ship cruise missiles and drones the Houthis are now using. At some point, it will have to be the United States that reopens these shipping lanes.
Per the President’s request, we are working with DoD and State to determine the associated costs and how to levy them on the Europeans.
JD Vance – 8:45 AM
Pete, if you think we should do it, let’s go. I just hate bailing Europe out again. Let’s make sure our messaging is tight. If there are things we can do upfront to minimize risk to Saudi oil facilities, we should do it.
Pete Hegseth – 8:49 AM
VP, I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC.
But Mike is correct—we are the only ones on the planet (on our side) who can do this. Nobody else is even close.
The question is timing. I feel like now is as good a time as any, given POTUS’s directive to reopen shipping lanes. I think we should go, but POTUS still retains 24 hours of decision space.
SM – 9:35 AM
As I heard it, the President was clear: green light, but we must soon make it clear to Egypt and Europe what we expect in return.
We also need to figure out how to enforce such a requirement. If Europe doesn’t remunerate, then what? If the US successfully restores freedom of navigation at great cost, there needs to be some further economic gain extracted in return.
Pete Hegseth – 11:44 AM
TEAM UPDATE:
12:15 PM: F-18s launch (1st strike package). 1:45 PM: “Trigger-based” F-18 1st strike window starts (target terrorist at known location). Strike drones (MQ-9s) launch. 2:10 PM: More F-18s launch (2nd strike package). 2:15 PM: Strike drones on target (first bombs expected). 3:36 PM: F-18 2nd strike starts; first sea-based Tomahawks launched.
JD Vance – 1:13 PM
I will say a prayer for victory.
Michael Waltz – 5:10 PM
VP, building collapsed. Had multiple positive IDs. Pete, Kurilla, the IC—amazing job.
JD Vance – 5:12 PM
What?
Michael Waltz – 5:13 PM
Typing too fast. The first target—their top missile guy—was positively ID’d walking into his girlfriend’s building. It’s now collapsed.
JD Vance – 5:14 PM
Excellent.
MAR – 5:14 PM
Good job, Pete and your team!
Michael Waltz – 5:15 PM
The team in MAL did a great job as well.
Pete Hegseth – 5:20 PM
CENTCOM was on point. Great job all. More strikes ongoing tonight; full initial report tomorrow.
Susie Wiles – 5:21 PM
Kudos to all—most particularly those in theater and CENTCOM! Really great. God bless.