The journalist who was mistakenly included in a chat with top Trump administration officials discussing U.S. military strikes against the Houthi terrorist organization earlier this month published the “attack plans” on Wednesday that were reportedly shared in the Signal text messaging leak.
After releasing a report on Monday regarding his inclusion in a Signal chat group that involved Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, Vice President J.D. Vance, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard discussing U.S. military action against Houthi terrorists, Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, shared the contents of the text messages on Wednesday.
In Wednesday’s report, Goldberg and Shane Harris, another reporter for The Atlantic, claimed that the Trump administration’s statements regarding the military plan leak led them to “believe that people should see the texts in order to reach their own conclusions.”
In a screenshot shared by The Atlantic, Hegseth reportedly sent a message in the group chat, saying, “TEAM UPDATE: TIME NOW (1144et): Weather is FAVORABLE. Just CONFIRMED w/CENTCOM we are a GO for mission launch. 1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package). 1345: ‘Trigger Based’ F-18 1st Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME – also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s).”
In an update to the group chat, Hegseth also reportedly wrote, “1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package). 1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier ‘Trigger Based’ targets). 1536 F-18 2nd Strike Starts – also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched.”
READ MORE: Secret military plans accidentally leaked by Trump admin: Report
Goldberg also claimed that Waltz later told the group, “The first target – their top missile guy – we had positive ID of him walking into his girlfriend’s building and it’s now collapsed,” while the vice president reportedly answered, “Excellent.”
Goldberg and Harris claimed that if the information shared on the Signal messaging platform, which reportedly was sent to The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief two hours prior to the anticipated start of the U.S. bombing strikes against the Houthi terrorists, had “fallen into the wrong hands,” U.S. military members could have been “exposed to even greater danger than they ordinarily would face.”
In response to Wednesday’s report, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt tweeted, “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.”
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich suggested that The Atlantic’s new report showed the outlet had “already abandoned their bullsh-t ‘war plans’ narrative” and that by releasing the text messages, the outlet was admitting it “LIED to perpetuate yet ANOTHER hoax on the American people.”
Additionally, Waltz tweeted, “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.”