The US launched a series of airstrikes on the Yemeni capital Sanaa. The editor of The Atlantic knew about the strikes two hours before they happened. Photo / Getty Images
The US launched a series of airstrikes on the Yemeni capital Sanaa. The editor of The Atlantic knew about the strikes two hours before they happened. Photo / Getty Images
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth included a journalist in a group chat discussing strikes on Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
The chat, confirmed by the White House, detailed targets and attack plans, leading to a security breach.
The strikes, announced by President Donald Trump on March 15, occurred as outlined in the leaked messages.
The White House on Monday confirmed a journalist was included in a group chat in which United States Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and other top officials discussed upcoming strikes against Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
“The message thread that was reported appears to be authentic and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain,” National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said.
Goldberg did not provide details of the plan, but wrote Hegseth sent information on the strikes, including on “targets, weapons the US would be deploying, and attack sequencing”, to the group chat.
“According to the lengthy Hegseth text, the first detonations in Yemen would be felt two hours hence, at 1.45pm eastern time,” Goldberg wrote – a timeline that was borne out on the ground in Yemen.
Goldberg said he was added to the group chat two days earlier and received messages from other top government officials designating representatives who would work on the issue.
On March 14, a person identified as Vice-President JD Vance expressed doubts about carrying out the strikes, saying he hated “bailing Europe out again”, as countries there were more affected by Houthi attacks on shipping than the US.
Group chat contributors identified as National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Hegseth both sent messages arguing only Washington had the capability to carry out the mission, with the latter official noting he shared Vance’s “loathing of European freeloading”.
And a person identified as “SM” – possibly Trump adviser Stephen Miller – argued that “if the US successfully restores freedom of navigation at great cost, there needs to be some further economic gain extracted in return”.
The Houthi rebels, who have controlled much of Yemen for more than a decade, are part of the “axis of resistance” of pro-Iran groups staunchly opposed to Israel and the US.
They 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.
