Magazine releases full Signal chat about US strikes on Yemen’s Houthis

US magazine The Atlantic has released the entire Signal chat among senior national security officials which has rocked the Trump administration.

Defence secretary Pete Hegseth provided the exact timings of warplane launches and when bombs would drop, before the men and women piloting those attacks against Yemen’s Houthi rebels on behalf of the US were airborne.

The disclosure follows two days during which leaders of President Donald Trump’s intelligence and defence agencies have struggled to explain how details — that current and former US officials have said would have been classified — wound up on an unclassified Signal chat that included Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has said no classified information was posted to the Signal chat.

They want a classified briefing with a senior administration official “who can speak to the facts” of the episode.

In the group chat, Mr Hegseth posted multiple details about the impending strike, using military language and laying out when a “strike window” starts, where a “target terrorist” was located, the time elements around the attack and when various weapons and aircraft would be used. He mentioned that the US was “currently clean” on operational security.

“Godspeed to our Warriors,” he wrote.

“1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package)”

“1345: ‘Trigger Based’ F-18 1st Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME – also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s)”

“1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package)”

“1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier ‘Trigger Based’ targets)”

“1536 F-18 2nd Strike Starts – also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched.”

“MORE TO FOLLOW (per timeline)”

“We are currently clean on OPSEC” — that is, operational security.

The chat was also notable for who it excluded: the only military attendee of the principals committee, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Admiral Christopher Grady is serving in that position in an acting capacity because Mr Trump fired former chairman, General CQ Brown Jr, in February.

National security adviser Mike Waltz was authorised to decide whether to include the Joint Chiefs chairman in the principals committee discussion, “based on the policy relevance of attendees to the issues being considered, the need for secrecy on sensitive matters, staffing needs, and other considerations”, the White House said in a January 20 memo.

The Pentagon said it would not comment on the issue, and it was not immediately clear why Adm Grady, currently serving the president’s top military adviser, would not be included in a discussion on military strikes.

Mr Hegseth has refused to say whether he posted classified information on Signal, saying only that he did not reveal “war plans”.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, he said the messages showed he was just providing the national security team a “general update in real time”.

“That’s what I did. That’s my job,” Mr Hegseth said.

What was revealed was jaw-dropping in its specificity and includes the type of information that is very closely guarded to protect the operational security of a military strike.

But Mr Hegseth’s spokesman, Sean Parnell, said in a statement on Wednesday that “there were no classified materials or war plans shared. The secretary was merely updating the group on a plan that was under way”.

The Pentagon and White House have tried to deflect criticism by attacking Mr Goldberg and The Atlantic. The magazine and its editor, however, repeatedly asked the White House before and after publication to gain additional context on the Signal chat and to ensure that publishing the full texts would not cause harm.

In a response, Mr Goldberg reported on Wednesday, Ms Leavitt described some of the information as sensitive and said the White House would prefer it not be published.

Signal is a publicly available app that provides encrypted communications, but it can be hacked, and is not approved for carrying classified information.

On March 14, the day before the strikes, the Defence Department cautioned personnel about the vulnerability of Signal, specifically that Russia was attempting to hack the app, according to a source.