Atlantic Magazine releases more Signal texts where Hegseth shared attack details

The Atlantic has published details of the Yemen strike after the Trump administration denied any classified information had been included; White House refuses to rule out sackings over the scandal.

US President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth in the Oval Office on March 21. Picture: Annabelle Gordon / AFP

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth posted plans for the timing and weapons to be used in a military strike against Houthi militants on a nongovernmental group chat at least two hours before the first bombs were scheduled to drop, according to texts published Wednesday by the Atlantic magazine.

The release of the texts comes after days of contentious dispute between the magazine and the White House over whether classified information about the military operation has been shared in the unclassified chat group in violation of longstanding security procedures and possibly legal requirements.

On Thursday (AEDT) White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt would not rule out that someone would lose their job over the leak.

During a White House press briefing, Ms Leavitt was asked if she would definitively say that no one would be fired

“What I can say definitively is what I just spoke to the president about, and he continues to have confidence in his national security team,” Ms Leavitt replied.

The new messages made public by the magazine showed the texts included details about the specific times that F-18s, MQ-9 drones and Tomahawk cruise missiles would be used in the attack and mentions intelligence that an unnamed target of the attacks was at a “known location.”

Such information is normally guarded carefully by the Pentagon before imminent strikes to avoid disclosures that could help adversaries.

In a statement Wednesday, Hegseth said, “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.”

BREAKING from The Atlantic:

Editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg has released the Signal war plans text thread:

Here Are the Attack Plans That Trump's Advisers Shared on Signal. https://t.co/CbFDHzgEGfpic.twitter.com/B36PBLpdmj

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 26, 2025

His texts before the strikes in Yemen, though, included multiple specific details of the looming attack.

In a text entitled “Team Update” on the Signal service, Hegseth wrote that the weather was favourable for the military operation and that “we are a GO for mission launch.”

The text was posted at 11:44am eastern time on March 15 about 30 minutes before the first US F-18s warplanes that carried out the strikes took off from a US aircraft carrier.

The defence secretary added that “THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP” at 2:15pm.

National security adviser Mike Waltz later texted that real-time US intelligence had confirmed that the first target, whom he identified as the Houthi’s “top missile guy,” had been struck.

“We had positive ID of him walking into his girlfriend’s building and it is now collapsed,” Waltz texted, in response to a question from Vice President JD Vance.

Targeting plans and the employment of American forces have long been considered to be highly classified before action is taken because their disclosure can tip off adversaries and provide them with insights on how the US conducts sensitive military operations, former officials and national security experts say.

Detailed battle damage assessments, especially those made during the course of an attack, have also been considered to be secret unless efforts are made to declassify them, former officials say.

The White House has said repeatedly that the messages were authentic and that the information wasn’t classified.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said in a social-media post Wednesday that the Atlantic’s story proved no war plans were shared on the Signal chat. “This entire story was another hoax written by a Trump-hater who is well-known for his sensationalist spin,” she posted to X, referring to Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg.

A plume of smoke billows during a US strike on Yemen's Houthi-held capital Sanaa early on March 16. Picture: Mohammed Huwais/ AFP

One Hegseth text that former defence officials and ex-fighter pilots said raised concerns was his message specifying the precise time F-18 pilots would be taking off from a US aircraft carrier in the region.

If the chat messages were being read by adversaries — which hasn’t been alleged — it could have put the pilots and the ship in danger, they said.

Top national-security officials have access to secure communications on government networks designed for classified discussions about such information.

Earlier this month, the Pentagon sent an advisory to all military personnel warning that a “vulnerability” had been identified in Signal and warned against using it for classified information.

Whether the information Hegseth shared was classified at the time he texted it has emerged as a key question.

Several US military officials said the strike information Hegseth included was secret when he shared it. The officials didn’t say if any action was taken after the attack by Hegseth to formally declassify some or all of the details.

Former defence officials said that it appeared Hegseth was passing along details of the plan to synchronise military assets involved in the attack.

Such information would come from Pentagon planning documents for the operation that are classified, said Mick Mulroy, who served as deputy assistant secretary of defence for the Middle East in the first Trump administration.

He added that the information was normally kept secret to protect the lives of US service members, among other reasons.

National security adviser Mike Waltz texted that the Houthi’s ‘top missile guy’ had been struck. Picture: AFP

Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, told lawmakers at a House Intelligence Committee meeting Wednesday that the information shared was a “standard update” that wasn’t classified and which was shared with US allies.

“No classified information was shared. There were no sources, methods, locations or war plans that were shared,” Gabbard said. “This was a standard update to the national security cabinet that was provided alongside updates that were given to foreign partners in the region.”

She was challenged by Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the ranking Democrat, who said the inclusion of military attack details in a nongovernmental messaging app breached Gabbard’s own organisation’s guidelines for protecting information that provides “indication or advance warning” that the US or its allies are preparing an attack.

Director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard; and CIA Director, John Ratcliffe, prepare to testify before a select committee on March 26. Picture: AFP

Gabbard responded that it was up to the Pentagon to decide if the information Hegseth provided was classified when he texted it.

War plans prepared by the Pentagon are in most cases written documents outlining how a force conducts an entire conflict at the strategic level, they said. The military also prepares attack plans ahead of strikes like those conducted in Yemen that lay out in detail how the operation will be conducted, including the weapons, timing and specific units involved.

“Both are classified and highly sensitive,” Mulroy said. “One could actually make the argument that attack plans are more sensitive because they are more detailed and specific on time, place, and manner.”

Wall Street Journal