US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Monday (Mar 24) denied reports that top White House officials shared classified war plans against the Houthis in Yemen to a journalist. President Donald Trump announced strikes on March 15.
After arriving at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam in Oahu, Hegseth spoke to the media and criticised the journalist involved as “deceitful”. He accused him of repeatedly spreading hoaxes and said that no one had “texted war plans”.
On being asked why those details were shared on the Signal messaging app and how they learned that a journalist was privy to the targets, Hegseth said, “I’ve heard that was characterised, nobody was texting war plans. And that’s all I have to say about that.”
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What exactly happened?
Jeffrey Goldberg, who is the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, reported on Monday that he was part of a text chain on Signal where details of air strikes in Yemen were discussed along with other highly sensitive national security matters.
Goldberg claimed that he was invited to an encrypted chat group called the “Houthi PC small group” on March 13. In the group, national security adviser Mike Waltz tasked his deputy Alex Wong with setting up a “tiger team” to coordinate US action against the Houthis.
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What did US official say?
A National Security Council spokesperson confirmed that the message chain “appears to be authentic,” and said, “We are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain.”
National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said, “The message thread that was reported appears to be authentic, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain.”
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Trump launched an ongoing campaign of large-scale military strikes against Yemen’s Houthis over the group’s attacks against Red Sea shipping. Goldberg wrote that Hegseth sent information on the strikes, including attack plans.
“According to the lengthy Hegseth text, the first detonations in Yemen would be felt two hours hence, at 1:45 pm eastern time,” Goldberg wrote.
The Huthi rebels have launched scores of drone and missile attacks at ships passing Yemen in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden during the Gaza war, claiming solidarity with the Palestinians. They have controlled much of Yemen for more than a decade.
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(With inputs from agencies)