Pentagon Leader Discusses Leak of 'Yemen war plans'
Top officials from the Trump administration inadvertently included a journalist in a group chat discussing US airstrikes against Yemen's Houthi rebels. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth responded to a recent leak concerning high-level conversations...
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Top officials from the Trump administration inadvertently included a journalist in a group chat discussing US airstrikes against Yemen's Houthi rebels.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth responded to a recent leak concerning high-level conversations about the strikes, labeling the journalist involved as "deceitful" and minimizing the importance of the leak.
The situation was revealed following a report by The Atlantic, which noted that its editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was mistakenly added to a Signal group chat containing prominent officials from the Trump administration, including Vice President J. D. Vance, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, and Secretary Hegseth. This group had been engaged in discussions about potential military operations against the Houthis for days leading up to President Donald Trump’s decision to order strikes on Yemen on March 15.
Goldberg noted that one of Hegseth’s last messages before the strikes "contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing."
When questioned about the leak, Hegseth disparaged Goldberg, calling him "a deceitful and highly discredited so-called journalist who’s made a profession of peddling hoaxes." He added, "Nobody was texting war plans, and that’s all I have to say about that" when further pressed on the messages' content.
National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes informed Reuters that the message thread "appears to be authentic" and disclosed that an internal review was underway to determine "how an inadvertent number was added to the chain." He characterized the thread as "a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials," though he did not specify whether security protocols had been violated or if any disciplinary actions would result.
Last Saturday, Trump ordered a "powerful military action" targeting the Yemen-based Houthi militants, accusing them of engaging in an "unrelenting campaign of piracy, violence, and terrorism against American, and other, ships, aircraft, and drones." The Houthis, officially known as the Ansar Allah movement, have controlled significant parts of Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa, since the mid-2010s.
In what The Atlantic described as a "fascinating policy discussion," senior US officials reportedly recognized the challenges of garnering public support for a new military initiative.
"There is a real risk that the public doesn’t understand this or why it’s necessary," commented the account identified as JD Vance, who stressed that "the strongest reason to do this is, as POTUS said, to send a message." Hegseth concurred, affirming, "I think messaging is going to be tough no matter what — nobody knows who the Houthis are — which is why we would need to stay focused on: 1) Biden failed & 2) Iran funded."
Trump has contended that the Houthi attacks "emanate from, and are created by, Iran," warning that Washington will treat every shot fired by the Yemeni group as if it had come from Tehran. He declared on his Truth Social platform last Monday, "Iran will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire."
Lucas Dupont for TROIB News
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth responded to a recent leak concerning high-level conversations about the strikes, labeling the journalist involved as "deceitful" and minimizing the importance of the leak.
The situation was revealed following a report by The Atlantic, which noted that its editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was mistakenly added to a Signal group chat containing prominent officials from the Trump administration, including Vice President J. D. Vance, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, and Secretary Hegseth. This group had been engaged in discussions about potential military operations against the Houthis for days leading up to President Donald Trump’s decision to order strikes on Yemen on March 15.
Goldberg noted that one of Hegseth’s last messages before the strikes "contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing."
When questioned about the leak, Hegseth disparaged Goldberg, calling him "a deceitful and highly discredited so-called journalist who’s made a profession of peddling hoaxes." He added, "Nobody was texting war plans, and that’s all I have to say about that" when further pressed on the messages' content.
National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes informed Reuters that the message thread "appears to be authentic" and disclosed that an internal review was underway to determine "how an inadvertent number was added to the chain." He characterized the thread as "a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials," though he did not specify whether security protocols had been violated or if any disciplinary actions would result.
Last Saturday, Trump ordered a "powerful military action" targeting the Yemen-based Houthi militants, accusing them of engaging in an "unrelenting campaign of piracy, violence, and terrorism against American, and other, ships, aircraft, and drones." The Houthis, officially known as the Ansar Allah movement, have controlled significant parts of Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa, since the mid-2010s.
In what The Atlantic described as a "fascinating policy discussion," senior US officials reportedly recognized the challenges of garnering public support for a new military initiative.
"There is a real risk that the public doesn’t understand this or why it’s necessary," commented the account identified as JD Vance, who stressed that "the strongest reason to do this is, as POTUS said, to send a message." Hegseth concurred, affirming, "I think messaging is going to be tough no matter what — nobody knows who the Houthis are — which is why we would need to stay focused on: 1) Biden failed & 2) Iran funded."
Trump has contended that the Houthi attacks "emanate from, and are created by, Iran," warning that Washington will treat every shot fired by the Yemeni group as if it had come from Tehran. He declared on his Truth Social platform last Monday, "Iran will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire."
Lucas Dupont for TROIB News
