Trump administration officials earlier this month accidentally added the editor of The Atlantic magazine to an encrypted group chat, in which they discussed highly sensitive plans for the military to strike Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

The incident was made public on Monday, in an article by Jeffrey Goldberg, who was included in the chat. The US National Security Council confirmed the messages appeared to be authentic, and said it was investigating how Goldberg was inadvertently added.

The group, on the Signal messaging app, included Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard, Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff, and 12 other officials.

US President Donald Trump, asked Monday about the story, was apparently unfamiliar with it, and said he was “not a big fan of The Atlantic,” and that the leak must not have caused problems, because the attacks were successful.

The officials used the chat — to which Goldberg was added, for reasons unclear, on March 13 — to debate the merits of striking the Houthis and how to present the attacks to the public.

Hegseth, according to the texts, was worried that Israel would hit the Houthis first.

As part of the chat, Goldberg received, some two hours before the bombing began on March 15, a “plan [that] included precise information about weapons packages, targets, and timing.”

That post, sent to the........

© The Times of Israel