Washington, DC — US President Donald Trump's national security team group-shared an alleged top-secret war plan with the editor-in-chief of the Atlantic magazine through a messaging app, and others who were tagged along included Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and national security adviser Mike Waltz.

In a stunning article on Monday titled "The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans", Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic revealed that he found himself added in the group that discussed plans regarding aerial strikes against the Houthi group in Yemen earlier this month.

Goldberg wrote in the The Atlantic that the world learned at 2 pm (local time) on March 15 that the US was striking Yemen, but he knew two hours prior that an attack was imminent.

"The reason I knew this is that Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, had texted me the war plan at 11:44 am. The plan included precise information about weapons packages, targets and timing."

He said US national-security leaders added him to a group chat about military strikes in Yemen, adding it began when a user identified as Michael Waltz launched a connection request on March 11 on Signal.

Two days later he received another notice "that I was to be included in a Signal chat group" called the "Houthi PC small group."

"It should go without saying—but I'll say it anyway—that I have never been invited to a White House principals-committee meeting, and that, in my many years of reporting on national-security matters, I had never heard of one being convened over a commercial messaging app," he wrote in The Atlantic.

A CIA representative, Trump adviser Stephen Miller and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles were also listed in the group, he added.

Pressure on shipping lanes

Goldberg consulted colleagues about a potential foreign disinformation campaign but was convinced of the group's authenticity when "the bombs started falling."

Goldberg added he "could not believe that the national security adviser to the president would be so reckless as to include the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic in such discussions with senior US officials, up to and including the vice president."

Goldberg left the group after the bombardment of Yemen.

Meanwhile, National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes told The New York Post that the Signal chain "appears to be an authentic message chain, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain."

"The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials," Hughes added. "The ongoing success of the Houthi operation demonstrates that there were no threats to troops or national security."

President Donald Trump responded to media about the report on Monday, stating, "I don't know anything about it. You're telling me about it for the first time."

Democratic lawmakers were outraged at the security breach and attacked Trump administration, with Senator Chris Coons writing on X that "every single one of the government officials on this text chain have now committed a crime."

"The carelessness shown by President Trump's cabinet is stunning and dangerous. I will be seeking answers from the administration immediately," Senator Jack Reed said.

The first US strikes on Yemen under President Trump killed at least 53 and wounded 101, Houthis reported, adding that most of the dead were women and children.

Afterwards, Waltz said the strikes "targeted multiple Houthi leaders and took them out," while Hegseth vowed an "unrelenting" missile campaign until the Houthi attacks stop.

Months after Israel's war in Gaza, Yemen's Houthis targeted what they say are "Israel-linked or Israel-bound ships" in the Red Sea, Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden and even as far as the Indian Ocean, claiming solidarity with Palestinians.

In the past year, they attacked over 100 ships, sinking two, creating huge pressure on trade and shipping lanes around the volatile region and diverting significant maritime traffic between Asia and Europe from the Suez Canal to the longer route around Africa.

In once such attack last year, Houthis reportedly struck Israeli ship MSC Unific in the Arabian Sea, the American oil tanker Delonix in the Red Sea, the British landing ship "Anvil Point" in the Indian Ocean and the vessel Lucky Sailor in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Houthis, who control much of the Arabian Peninsula's poorest country, halted attacks after a January ceasefire between Israel and Hamas but threatened to resume when Israel blocked humanitarian aid to Gaza on March 2. On Sunday, the Houthis reported additional US strikes that they said have raised the death toll to nearly 80 since last week.