Former U.S. national security officials reacted with shock to revelations in The Atlantic that senior members of President Donald Trump's cabinet sent detailed operational plans and other potentially highly classified information about U.S. military strikes in Yemen to a group on a messaging app to which a reporter had been accidentally added.
The Trump administration acknowledged that the messages, sent via the non-governmental encrypted chat app Signal, appeared to be authentic without offering any explanation for why senior officials were discussing national defense information outside of approved classified government systems.
According to the Atlantic, national security adviser Mike Waltz earlier this month called a text chat with senior US officials, including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to discuss attacks on Houthi militants in Yemen, who had been threatening international shipping in the Red Sea. Waltz, apparently by chance, added Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to the chain.
The messages began with a discussion about when the action should begin, with Goldberg following suit. The directors then congratulated themselves on a job well done during a brief discussion, before Goldberg removed himself from the group.
"Dear Sweet Baby Jesus," said a former senior American official, reacting to the reporting.
"No," said another, tersely, when asked if there was any analogous use of the app during the Biden administration.
Signal is an encrypted messaging app that is popular around the world, including among journalists and government officials. Biden administration officials also routinely used it to discuss logistical planning for meetings and occasionally to communicate with foreign counterparts.
But using Signal to discuss planning for military operations, among the most closely guarded secrets the United States has, in part because of the potential impact on the lives of American service members, is a staggering risk to national security, former officials said.
Many officials said they could not recall any instance in which Signal was used to communicate classified information or discuss military operations. Senior officials in the group chat have access to classified communications systems, and they have staff whose job it is to ensure that communications of sensitive information remain secure.
“They broke every procedure known to man for protecting operational material before a military strike,” said a former senior intelligence official.
"You have a total breakdown of security for a military operation," he added, A2 CNN writes. (A2 Televizion)
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