(NewsNation) — The Atlantic released screenshots that appear to show Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth laying out a timeline of a planned attack on the Houthis in a chat on the app Signal.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted in the chat:
“TEAM UPDATE: “TIME NOW (1144et): Weather is FAVORABLE. Just CONFIRMED w/CENTCOM we are a GO for mission launch.”
Pete hegseth in the signal chat published by the atlantic
He then listed several planned launches and strikes over the course of the next four hours, such as, “1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package) and “1415: Strike Drones on Target,” which Hegseth noted as “WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP.”
Hegseth in a succeeding line noted when the “first sea-based Tomahawks” would launch.
Trump minimized the Atlantic’s new reporting during a Wednesday interview on “The Vince Show.”
“There weren’t details, and there was nothing in there that compromised. And it had no impact on the attack, which was very successful,” Trump said.
You can read The Atlantic’s full article here.
Journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, who was inadvertently added to a group chat on the Signal messaging app, on Monday published an account of officials accidentally leaking what he called “war plans” to him.
Following blowback from administration officials about the wording of his article, Goldberg on Wednesday released the texts for the public.
The article released as Trump’s top intelligence officials appeared before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence for an open hearing on global security Wednesday — just one day after the Senate’s counterpart grilled officials over the still-unreleased text thread.
Watch National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and FBI Director Kash Patel testify at this link.
US defense official: Chat’s classified nature ‘not even debatable’
Gabbard and Ratcliffe maintained during a Tuesday Senate committee hearing that no classified information was shared in the Signal chat.
Following the release of the full chats, a U.S. defense official told NewsNation on Wednesday that the information shared by Hegseth is classified: “It’s not even debatable.”
The official, who has worked in special operations and intelligence for more than 15 years, said Hegseth the “sequencing of operations” in the messages were classified.
“Realistically, if Kurilla knew this information was out there, he would have debated canceling or rescheduling the whole operation out of risk to service members,” the official said, referring to United States Central Command leader Gen. Michael Kurilla.
Trump on Atlantic publishing full chat: ‘Really not a big deal’
Trump on “The Vince Show” Wednesday also floated the idea that Goldberg “found a way” into the chat, perhaps via “a very innocent staffer.”
“I think we’ll get to the bottom of it very quickly, and it’s really not a big deal,” Trump added.
Notably, Waltz on a Tuesday airing of Fox News said a staffer was not to blame.
“And look, I take full responsibility. I built the group to make — my job is to make sure everything’s coordinated,” Waltz told Laura Ingraham.
Hakeem Jeffries calls for Pete Hegseth’s exit
In a brief one-on-one with NewsNation’s Joe Khalil, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said “Pete Hegseth should resign immediately or be fired.”
When asked whether he thinks that will happen, Jeffries said, “It needs to happen.”
Jeffries called for Hegseth’s dismissal earlier this week, though he opted not to name Hegseth and instead called him “the most unqualified person ever to lead the Pentagon in American history.”
White House responds to new Atlantic article
In response to Goldberg’s newest piece, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on X pointed to the newest article’s shift in headline wording — from “war plans” to “attack plans.”
“The Atlantic has conceded: These were NOT ‘war plans.’ This entire story was another hoax written by a Trump-hater who is well-known for his sensationalist spin,” Leavitt said.
Vance shared a similar sentiment, saying in an X post that “Goldberg oversold what he had.”
Hegseth on X disparaged the reporting, saying: “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.”
“No locations. No sources & methods. NO WAR PLANS. Foreign partners had already been notified that strikes were imminent. BOTTOM LINE: President Trump is protecting America and our interests,” Waltz shared on X.
Counselor to the president Alina Habba told reporters on Wednesday that the story and its fallout is a “distraction.”
“It is what it is,” Habba said. “This is, in my opinion, something that they’re making a big to do about nothing.”