US President Donald Trump has shrugged off security concerns after top officials texted a group chat, which accidentally included a journalist, plans for strikes on Yemen.
Trump, who took office in January, told NBC News in a phone call on Tuesday that it was "the only glitch in two months, and it turned out not to be a serious one," adding his national security advisor Michael Waltz had "learned a lesson."
Meanwhile, US senators lined up to question Trump's top intelligence officials on Tuesday over their discussion of highly sensitive war plans on a commercial messaging chat that also included a journalist, a revelation that triggered outrage among democrats and national security experts.
Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, said in a report on Monday that he was unexpectedly invited on March 13 to an encrypted chat group on the Signal messaging app called the "Houthi PC small group" coordinating US action against the Yemen’s Houthi group over its attacks on Red Sea shipping.
National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes said the chat group appeared to be authentic. The White House said it was looking into how Goldberg's number was added to the thread.
Democrats — and some of Trump's fellow Republicans — called for an investigation of what appeared to be a major security breach.
Classified and sensitive information is not supposed to be shared on commercial mobile phone apps, and unknown numbers — such as Goldberg's — should not be included.
"The administration is playing fast and loose with our nation's most classified info, and it makes all Americans less safe," Senator Mark Warner, the Democratic vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee said in a statement.
Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, discloses he was included in a group chat discussing plans for strikes against Yemen's Houthis.
'American people deserve answers'
Members of the intelligence panel were to question two of the administration officials on the chat — Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe — on Tuesday when the panel holds its annual hearing on Worldwide Threats to US Security.
Senator Tom Cotton, the panel's Republican chairman, said he expected the issue would come up.
"I'm confident that this group chat story from yesterday's news will come up today at the hearing, and that John Ratcliffe, Tulsi Gabbard and the other leaders will have a chance to address it," Cotton said in an interview on Fox News.
"But I do hope that we keep the focus on the decisive action that the president took against these outlaw rebels in Yemen who are backed, let's remember, by Iran," Cotton said.
Representative Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, also said he would pursue the issue when that panel holds its threats hearing on Wednesday.
"The American people deserve answers, and I plan to get some on Wednesday at the Intelligence Committee’s Worldwide Threats hearing," he said in a statement.
While some Democrats called for officials on the chat to lose their security clearances or resign, there was no immediate word on whether any official would face consequences.
White House officials and some fellow Republicans instead stressed that the attack on the Houthis had gone off without a hitch.
Trump launched an ongoing campaign of large-scale military strikes against Yemen on March 15 over the Houthi attacks against Red Sea shipping, and he warned Iran that it needed to immediately halt support for the group.
Hours before those attacks started, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted operational details about the plan in the messaging group that included Goldberg, "including information about targets, weapons the US would be deploying, and attack sequencing," Goldberg said.
His report omitted the details but Goldberg termed it a "shockingly reckless" use of a Signal chat.
Accounts that appeared to represent Vice President JD Vance, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Ratcliffe, Gabbard, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, and senior National Security Council officials were assembled in the chat group, Goldberg wrote.
The White House press secretary said on Tuesday that White House was looking into how Goldberg's number was added to the thread.
In a post on X.com, she criticised Goldberg as "well-known for his sensationalist spin" and praised "the strong and decisive leadership" of Trump.
The Houthi group has been attacking “Israeli-linked ships” passing through the Red and Arabian seas, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and the Gulf of Aden with missiles and drones since late 2023, disrupting global trade for what it said was a show of solidarity with Gaza.
The group halted its attacks when a ceasefire was declared in January between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, but it threatened to resume the attacks when Israel blocked all humanitarian aid into Gaza on March 2.
On Tuesday, the group said it targeted Ben Gurion Airport in central Israel with two missiles as regional tension continues to spike over ongoing Israeli genocidal war on Gaza.
NSA's future in doubt?
Meanwhile, the future of Waltz is in doubt, Politico reported.
A senior administration official told Politico that multiple discussions are underway on how to handle the situation.
"Half of them saying he's never going to survive or shouldn’t survive," the official said, adding that two senior White House aides have suggested Waltz should resign to avoid putting the president in a "bad position."
"It was reckless not to check who was on the thread. It was reckless to be having that conversation on Signal. You can’t have recklessness as the national security adviser," the official added.
A source familiar with the situation said Trump has spoken to Waltz about the issue and that the White House continues to back him.
Two officials told Politico that while Trump might hold Waltz responsible for jeopardising US national security, he could also be frustrated with Vice President Vance for diverging from the administration’s foreign policy or with Defense Secretary Hegseth for allegedly sharing sensitive details in the chat.
