President Donald Trump revealed that a staffer with national security advisor Mike Waltz’s office included the editor-in-chief of the Atlantic in a Signal group chat with senior Trump officials who were discussing plans for an upcoming strike on Houthi rebels in Yemen.
“It was one of Michael’s people on the phone. A staffer had his number on there,” Trump told NBC in a phone interview when asked how Jeffrey Goldberg, the Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, was added to the high-profile chat.
The president added that Goldberg’s inclusion in the group chat had “no impact at all” on the strike in Yemen.
Goldberg published an article on Monday detailing how he was added to a Signal group chat on March 11, reportedly dubbed “Houthi PC Small Group,” which included high-profile government officials, including Waltz, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President JD Vance and others.
Signal is an encrypted messaging app that operates similarly to texting or making phone calls, but with additional security measures that help ensure communications are kept private to those included in the correspondence.
Those in the group reportedly discussed targeting the Iran-backed terrorist group, the Houthis, in Yemen, including timing.