Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters Monday that “nobody was texting war plans” following news breaking that Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, gained access to a group chat featuring Trump administration officials talking about plans for an attack against Houthi rebels in Yemen.

“Nobody was texting war plans, and that’s all I have to say about that,” Hegseth said outside a plane in Hawaii after being asked about Goldberg’s access to the chat.

Hegseth also called Goldberg “a deceitful and highly discredited, so-called journalist who’s made a profession of peddling hoaxes time and time again.”

The Hill has reached out to The Atlantic for comment.

Atlantic journalist says Trump officials included him in war plans group chat

Goldberg was reportedly included in a Trump administration group chat on Signal in which top officials debated and then discussed details of attacks against Houthi rebels.

The initial invite to the group apparently came from national security adviser Mike Waltz. Hegseth reportedly sent the group details including weapons used, targets, and timing two hours ahead of the attacks, which began on March 15.

Others in the group were Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.

In the stunning report, Goldberg claimed Waltz connected with him on Signal on March 11 and, two days later, he was invited to join a chain called the “Houthi PC small group,” in which they discussed strikes against the Houthi militant group in Yemen seemingly unaware of the journalist’s presence in the group.

He wrote that he initially had strong doubts the text group was real, “because I could not believe that the national-security leadership of the United States would communicate on Signal about imminent war plans.”

Goldberg also said he “could not believe that the national security adviser to the president would be so reckless as to include him in the discussions with senior U.S. officials.”

He said he realized the text chain could be real after the person who was supposedly Hegseth messaged to the group that the first detonations in Yemen would be felt in two hours, at 1:45 p.m., which was in line with what took place. 

Hegseth later said that the surprise strikes, which hit multiple targets across three days, were part of an “unrelenting” campaign until the Iran-backed group stops attacking vessels in the Red Sea, a vital maritime corridor. 

Brian Hughes, the spokesperson for the National Security Council, confirmed the message chain was authentic.

“This appears to be an authentic message chain, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain,” wrote Hughes. “The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials. The ongoing success of the Houthi operation demonstrates that there were no threats to troops or national security.”

Washington reacts to report of war plans group chat

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is calling for Congress to investigate top Trump administration officials in the wake of the bombshell revelation. 

Jeffries said the details of the breach reveal a “reckless” administration one stocked with an “unqualified” Cabinet that poses a threat to national security in the name of defending it.

Congress, he said, has a role in getting to the bottom of the incident. 

“There should absolutely be a congressional investigation so that we can understand what happened, why did it happen, and how do we prevent this type of national security breach from ever happening again,” Jeffries told reporters Monday in the Capitol, shortly after The Atlantic piece was published. 

“This is reckless, irresponsible and dangerous.”

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) slammed the top officials, calling them incompetent and warning that if the plan details were revealed Americans could have died.

“There is no world in which this information should have been shared in non-secure channels,” he said online. “Hegseth is in so far over his head that he is a danger to this country and our men and women in uniform.”

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Monday, however, dismissed any potential disciplinary action for Waltz and Hegseth after news broke of The Atlantic report.

Asked by The Hill if Waltz should be disciplined, Johnson responded, “No, no, of course not.”

“The administration, as I understand, I just was with the president in the Oval Office, just now, the administration is addressing what happened,” Johnson said when asked if he was concerned about the report. “Apparently an inadvertent phone number made it onto that thread. They’re gonna track that down and make sure that doesn’t happen again.”