‘Amateur hour’: Washington stunned by Trump administration's group chat on war strategy
A Democratic lawmaker has urged for immediate hearings regarding the incident.
TroibNews 
Members of Congress and national security staffers were taken aback on Monday by a shocking report indicating that senior officials from the Trump administration, including the vice president and the Defense secretary, had deliberated on military strategies through a Signal group chat.
Concerns were voiced regarding the potential mishandling of classified materials and sensitive U.S. military plans.
“Only one word for this: FUBAR,” tweeted Rep. Pat Ryan, an Army veteran and member of the Armed Services Committee. “If House Republicans won’t hold a hearing on how this happened IMMEDIATELY, I’ll do it my damn self.”
“Get the fuck out,” remarked a Democratic congressional aide, reflecting a widespread sentiment on Capitol Hill regarding perceived breaches of crucial security protocols. The aide described the situation as an “operational security nightmare,” and spoke anonymously to discuss this sensitive matter involving the administration.
The Atlantic reported that its editor had inadvertently been included in a group chat on the encrypted messaging app Signal, where senior officials of the Trump administration discussed plans for airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen. Hours prior to a series of strikes on Yemen, an account associated with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared detailed operational data concerning the targets, weaponry, and attack sequences.
Officials within the Pentagon expressed disbelief at the choice of Signal for such delicate discussions.
“No, no they didn’t,” stated one Defense official. “Just absolutely unbelievable.”
Another official commented, “DOD either doesn't have a strong cybersecurity posture right now, or Hegseth is simply not engaging it.”
According to The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg received a connection request from a user named “Mike Waltz” on March 11, which resulted in his inclusion in a group chat named “Houthi PC small group,” containing several individuals who appeared to be high-ranking administration officials, including Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
Brian Hughes, spokesperson for the National Security Council, informed the publication that the chat “appears to be an authentic message chain.” However, the NSC did not respond to a subsequent request for further comment from PMG.
The chat included several highly sensitive, possibly classified, pieces of information. Ratcliffe identified an active intelligence officer, whose identity is typically protected, as his point of contact for these discussions.
There are secure communication systems in place for discussing sensitive material, leading national security experts to question why senior administration officials opted to use Signal, an app developed by a nonprofit and freely available.
“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?” asked Mark Zaid, an attorney representing current and former national security officials and whistleblowers.
Top Democrats on significant committees quickly denounced the security breach.
“This administration is playing fast and loose with our nation’s most classified info, and it makes all Americans less safe,” wrote Sen. Mark Warner, the leading Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, 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," stated Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, the top Democrat on the committee overseeing the Pentagon budget. "We can’t trust anyone in this dangerous administration to keep Americans safe."
Some used the occurrence to criticize the Trump administration's foreign policy.
“Amateur hour,” Sen. Ruben Gallego, a Marine veteran, posted 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.”
However, concern over this incident was not limited to Democrats. Republican Rep. Don Bacon, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, acknowledged that while it’s human to “accidentally send the wrong person a text,” the reports were troubling.
“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.”
Regarding the Atlantic report, Sen. John Cornyn from Texas remarked, "It sounds like a huge screw-up. . . . Is there any other way to describe it?”
When asked if an investigation was warranted, he expressed hope that an inter-agency review would take place, noting, “That just sounds like somebody dropped the ball.”
Neither the CIA nor the Office of the Director of National Intelligence responded immediately to requests for comment.
The circumstances leading to Goldberg’s addition to the group chat of senior Trump administration officials remain unclear. Zaid pointed out that the situation could have been much 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.”
Navid Kalantari for TROIB News
Concerns were voiced regarding the potential mishandling of classified materials and sensitive U.S. military plans.
“Only one word for this: FUBAR,” tweeted Rep. Pat Ryan, an Army veteran and member of the Armed Services Committee. “If House Republicans won’t hold a hearing on how this happened IMMEDIATELY, I’ll do it my damn self.”
“Get the fuck out,” remarked a Democratic congressional aide, reflecting a widespread sentiment on Capitol Hill regarding perceived breaches of crucial security protocols. The aide described the situation as an “operational security nightmare,” and spoke anonymously to discuss this sensitive matter involving the administration.
The Atlantic reported that its editor had inadvertently been included in a group chat on the encrypted messaging app Signal, where senior officials of the Trump administration discussed plans for airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen. Hours prior to a series of strikes on Yemen, an account associated with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared detailed operational data concerning the targets, weaponry, and attack sequences.
Officials within the Pentagon expressed disbelief at the choice of Signal for such delicate discussions.
“No, no they didn’t,” stated one Defense official. “Just absolutely unbelievable.”
Another official commented, “DOD either doesn't have a strong cybersecurity posture right now, or Hegseth is simply not engaging it.”
According to The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg received a connection request from a user named “Mike Waltz” on March 11, which resulted in his inclusion in a group chat named “Houthi PC small group,” containing several individuals who appeared to be high-ranking administration officials, including Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
Brian Hughes, spokesperson for the National Security Council, informed the publication that the chat “appears to be an authentic message chain.” However, the NSC did not respond to a subsequent request for further comment from PMG.
The chat included several highly sensitive, possibly classified, pieces of information. Ratcliffe identified an active intelligence officer, whose identity is typically protected, as his point of contact for these discussions.
There are secure communication systems in place for discussing sensitive material, leading national security experts to question why senior administration officials opted to use Signal, an app developed by a nonprofit and freely available.
“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?” asked Mark Zaid, an attorney representing current and former national security officials and whistleblowers.
Top Democrats on significant committees quickly denounced the security breach.
“This administration is playing fast and loose with our nation’s most classified info, and it makes all Americans less safe,” wrote Sen. Mark Warner, the leading Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, 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," stated Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, the top Democrat on the committee overseeing the Pentagon budget. "We can’t trust anyone in this dangerous administration to keep Americans safe."
Some used the occurrence to criticize the Trump administration's foreign policy.
“Amateur hour,” Sen. Ruben Gallego, a Marine veteran, posted 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.”
However, concern over this incident was not limited to Democrats. Republican Rep. Don Bacon, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, acknowledged that while it’s human to “accidentally send the wrong person a text,” the reports were troubling.
“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.”
Regarding the Atlantic report, Sen. John Cornyn from Texas remarked, "It sounds like a huge screw-up. . . . Is there any other way to describe it?”
When asked if an investigation was warranted, he expressed hope that an inter-agency review would take place, noting, “That just sounds like somebody dropped the ball.”
Neither the CIA nor the Office of the Director of National Intelligence responded immediately to requests for comment.
The circumstances leading to Goldberg’s addition to the group chat of senior Trump administration officials remain unclear. Zaid pointed out that the situation could have been much 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.”
Navid Kalantari for TROIB News
