The entire incident has been brushed off by President Trump and his team as false and unimportant. According to them, the details shared were not confidential, and the journalist who ended up in the Signal group chat got there either by accident or through a strange technical error.
After Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief of The Atlantic, disclosed that he was mistakenly added to a private Signal chat that included top government officials planning a military strike against Houthi targets in Yemen, the Trump administration has given multiple versions of what they think happened.
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Their explanations have changed several times and often come across as confusing or unlikely. What stands out clearly from all this is that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth chose to use Signal to discuss information related to a military operation that was about to happen.
Trump’s Defense and Accusations
President Trump addressed the story by attacking the source of the article instead of focusing on the security risk. He called the reporting a “witch hunt” and insulted the journalist personally. Trump also attempted to change attention to former President Biden, accusing him of failing to act on Yemen when he was in office.
While speaking on Wednesday, Trump mentioned that Signal might be unreliable. He then used the opportunity to criticize Biden again, saying the previous president should have ordered a military strike on Yemen earlier. Trump said that by failing to do so, Biden made global issues worse.
Although Trump kept insisting that the group chat included no secret information, he also claimed that it was normal for U.S. officials to use Signal for work discussions.
That being said, most of his energy seemed focused on mocking the journalist and the publication instead of addressing the national security concerns raised by the situation.
On Tuesday, speaking from the Cabinet Room, Trump described Jeffrey Goldberg as someone without morals. He also claimed that The Atlantic was a failing magazine with little relevance or public interest.
Concerns About Information Classification
Even though the president and defense secretary have the authority to declare materials unclassified, some former officials doubt that this information was ever cleared for open sharing.
Based on how detailed the attack plan was and how serious its possible effects could be, these former officials believe the message very likely involved protected information.
They argue that the way the information was handled doesn’t match the kind of care that should be expected when lives are at stake and when U.S. military operations are being discussed in real time. These concerns have deepened the focus on how decisions and communications are being managed within the Trump administration.
