Journalist Accidentally Added to US Administration Group Discussion

The Atlantic's editor-in-chief was accidentally added to a group chat of the US administration where the strikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen were being discussed. According to Jeffrey Goldberg, on March 11, he received a request to join a conversation on Signal from a user who introduced himself as White House National Security Advisor Michael Waltz.

Days later, the journalist received a notification that he was included in a chat called "Houthis PC Close Group." Besides Waltz, the group included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Vice President J.D. Vance.

Goldberg stated that he followed an "interesting political discussion," where Vance disagreed with Trump’s decision to strike the Houthis immediately and suggested postponing the bombing.

The authenticity of the correspondence was confirmed to the journalist by Brian Hughes, press secretary of the National Security Council: "It seems like an authentic chain of messages, and we are investigating how your number was accidentally added to it."