WASHINGTON 鈥 The Trump administration struggled Wednesday to stem the fallout from revelations that top national security officials discussed sensitive attack plans over a messaging app and mistakenly added a journalist to the chain.
The White House claimed the information shared through the publicly available Signal app with Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine, was not classified, an assertion that Democrats said strains credulity considering that it detailed plans for an upcoming attack on Yemen's Houthis.
President Donald Trump during an Oval Office appearance to announce new tariffs on imported vehicles seemed frustrated as reporters repeatedly questioned him about the matter.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 all a witch hunt,鈥 Trump said.
The Houthis have been wreaking havoc on vital Red Sea shipping lanes since November 2023 as the Israel-Hamas war raged.
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The decision on determining whether the information is classified ultimately lies with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who in the chain listed weapons systems and a timeline for the attack 鈥 "THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP," he wrote.
Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the position that the Trump administration is staking out can be described with one word: "Baloney."
"When you describe time, place, type of armaments used: Do they think the American public is stupid?" Warner said in an exchange with reporters.
Sen. Roger Wicker, the Republican chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he and Sen. Jack Reed, the committee's top Democrat, will send a letter to the Trump administration requesting an expedited inspector general investigation into the use of Signal.
They also called for a classified briefing with a top administration official "who actually has the facts and can speak on behalf of the administration."
"The information, as published recently, appears to me to be of such a sensitive nature that, based on my knowledge, I would have wanted it classified," Wicker said.
White House denials
White House officials continue to insist no classified material was discussed in the March 13 to March 15 Signal chain.
Trump said he stands by his national security team and assailed the reporter's credibility.
Hegseth, White House national security adviser Mike Waltz and other administration officials on Wednesday uniformly insisted that no "war plans" were texted on Signal, a claim that current and former U.S. officials called "semantics."
War plans carry a specific meaning. They often refer to the numbered and highly classified planning documents 鈥 sometimes thousands of pages long 鈥 that would inform U.S. decisions in case of a major conflict, such as if the United States is called to defend Taiwan.
But the information Hegseth posted 鈥 specific attack details selecting human and weapons storage targets 鈥 was a subset of those plans and was likely informed by the same classified intelligence.
Hegseth said on social media the message chain included, "No names. No targets. No locations. No units. No routes. No sources. No methods. And no classified information." He did not directly address Democrats' concerns about the timing and weaponry details in the chain.
Several Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday called for Hegseth to step down.
"This is classified information. It's a weapon system, as well as a sequence of strikes, as well as details of the operations," said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat from Illinois who is on the committee. "He needs to resign immediately."
Trump bristled at the suggestion that Hegseth should step down.
鈥淗e鈥檚 doing a great job," Trump said. "He had nothing to do with it.鈥
Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, in an exchange with Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard during the panel's hearing on global threats Wednesday, noted that her office's criteria on classified information make clear that it includes "information providing indication or advanced warning that the U.S. or its allies are preparing an attack."
Gabbard said the conversation included 鈥渃andid and sensitive鈥 information about military strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen. But as she told senators during testimony Tuesday, she said the texts did not contain classified information.
鈥淚t was a mistake that a reporter was inadvertently added,鈥 Gabbard said.
The Trump administration stance on the Signal chain is also a notable departure for a U.S. government that routinely classifies a vast amount of far more mundane material, including millions of documents pertaining to military and intelligence operations and activities.
The text chain
The Atlantic released the entire Signal chat Wednesday, showing that Hegseth provided the exact timings of warplane launches and when bombs would drop 鈥 before the men and women flying those attacks were airborne.
The Pentagon and White House tried to deflect criticism by attacking Goldberg and The Atlantic. The magazine and Goldberg, however, repeatedly reached out to the White House before and after publication to gain additional context on the Signal chat and ensure that publishing the full texts would not cause harm.
In a response, Goldberg reported Wednesday,聽White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt described some of the information as sensitive and said the White House would prefer it not be published.
In the group chat, Hegseth posted details about the impending strike, using military language and laying out when a 鈥渟trike window鈥 starts, where a 鈥渢arget terrorist" was located, the time elements around the attack and when various weapons and aircraft would be used in the strike.
Details from the transcript included:
鈥1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package)鈥
鈥1345: 鈥楾rigger Based鈥 F-18 1st Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME 鈥 also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s)鈥
鈥1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package)鈥
鈥1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier 鈥楾rigger Based鈥 targets)鈥
鈥1536 F-18 2nd Strike Starts 鈥 also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched.鈥
A strike package includes the personnel and weapons used in an attack, including Navy F-18 fighter aircraft. MQ-9s are armed drones. Tomahawks are ship-launched cruise missiles.
The chat was also notable for who it excluded: the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Adm. Christopher Grady serves in that position in an acting capacity because Trump fired former chairman Gen. CQ Brown Jr. in February.
The Pentagon said it would not comment on the issue, and it was not immediately clear why Grady, currently serving as the president鈥檚 top military adviser, would not be included in a discussion on military strikes.
