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Defence secretary Hegseth clarifies US ‘war plans,’ hits out at journalist Goldberg: ‘No names, no targets’
While Pete Hegseth has denied revealing “war plans,” he has not provided a direct response on whether the content he posted was sensitive.
Defense secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday addressed concerns over leaked discussions about US “war plans” after journalist Jeffrey Goldberg was mistakenly added to a Signal group chat. The incident occurred just two hours before imminent strikes against the Houthi rebels on March 15.
The unclassified Signal group included top officials such as Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and others. Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, was inadvertently added, giving him access to sensitive discussions.
Commenting on the mistake, President Donald Trump downplayed the situation, stating that it was not “a serious one.”
Hegseth later addressed the controversy on X, posting:
“So, let’s me get this straight. The Atlantic released the so-called ‘war plans’ and those ‘plans’ include: No names. No targets. No locations. No units. No routes. No sources. No methods. And no classified information. Those are some really shitty war plans. This only proves one thing: Jeff Goldberg has never seen a war plan or an ‘attack plan’ (as he now calls it). Not even close. As I type this, my team and I are travelling the INDOPACOM region, meeting w/ Commanders (the guys who make REAL ‘war plans’) and talking to troops. We will continue to do our job, while the media does what it does best: peddle hoaxes.”
Hegseth, who is currently travelling in the Indo-Pacific, has so far dismissed questions about whether he shared classified information on Signal. While he has denied revealing “war plans,” he has not provided a direct response on whether the content he posted was sensitive. Meanwhile, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe informed the Senate Intelligence Committee that it was up to Hegseth to determine whether the information was classified.
The Atlantic published details of US airstrikes on Yemen
The Atlantic magazine on Wednesday revealed details of US airstrike plans in Yemen, which were accidentally shared with its editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, by Trump administration officials via the messaging app Signal.
When asked for a response, the White House referred to an X post by national security adviser Mike Waltz, stating: "No locations. No sources & methods. NO WAR PLANS." The Atlantic did not immediately comment on the matter.
Both the Pentagon and the White House have sought to shift focus by criticising Goldberg and The Atlantic. However, the magazine and its editor reportedly made multiple attempts to seek clarification from the White House before and after publication. Their goal was to understand the Signal chat's context and ensure that publishing the full messages would not pose security risks. Goldberg reported on Wednesday that Leavitt acknowledged some of the details were sensitive and expressed the White House’s preference that they not be made public.
In the Signal group chat, Hegseth employed military terminology to share various details about the planned strike. He specified the "strike window" timing, the location of a "target terrorist," time-sensitive aspects of the operation, and the deployment of different weapons and aircraft. Additionally, he indicated that US operational security was “currently clean.”
