“It’s PATHETIC.”

The Atlantic’s Editor in Chief Releases Screenshots of War Group Chat

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

On March 13, the Trump administration added The Atlantic’s Editor in Chief, Jeffery Goldberg, to a Signal group chat containing details and descriptions of weapons along with the planned attacks on a group named the Houthis in Yemen. The group chat contained 18 of Trump’s officials, and Goldberg later published his narrative, which included screenshots of the messages and events occurring in the “Houthi PC Small Group.”

Goldberg claimed on Tuesday, March 11, that he received a connection request from national security advisor Michael Waltz. On Thursday, Goldberg was added to the group chat, in which the conversation was opened by Waltz, who said: “Team- establishing a principles group for coordination on Houthis, particularly for over the next 72 hours.” Waltz later in the group chat sent multiple emojis, including a fist bump, an American flag and fire.

The Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, disclosed the times of the attacks as well as the weapons that were used in the chat around two hours before any action had been taken. The Vice President, JD Vance, made statements on delaying the attack, but also said that he would support the team consensus. Hegseth and Vance also made comments about European allies.

“I just hate bailing Europe out again,” Vance said. His statement was then replied to by Hegseth, who said: “VP: I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC.”

“The tone and content of the conversation was disheartening and frightening. The not-so-subtle strains of jingoism, rebuke of European allies, and casual sharing of sensitive information that could put our armed forces in more danger is not becoming of respectable, respectful leadership,” an anonymous faculty member said. “It’s negligence towards our troops and allies that will come back on us in both the short and long terms… I cannot understand how anyone truly believes that the insult of our closest military and economic allies could in any way be beneficial.”

In an interview with Fox News, Waltz claimed full responsibility for the occurrence. Many Democratic senators responded, saying that the use of a non-secure platform in sharing sensitive government information is careless and concerning. In contrast, Republican senators are more stifled in their scrutiny.

“It’s really sensitive information that should not have been communicated across those means, even if a reporter had not been there,” an anonymous faculty member said. “Also, they should have checked a million times to make sure that it was who they wanted to send it to.”

There are also many people calling for Waltz and Hegseth to resign.

“I don’t believe this kind of thing would happen with most career military, defense, or intelligence officers, but that’s not necessarily who we have in positions of authority,” an anonymous faculty member said. “We’ll recall the debacle surrounding Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server during her time as Secretary of State, so one thing I’m looking for in political discourse right now is consistency. It is rather elusive.”

Despite explicit information about these attacks being shared within the group chat, the White House repeatedly claims that none of the information that was shared is classified, and that Goldberg and The Atlantic are overdramatizing the event. Additionally, there have been multiple statements—one of which was made by Karoline Leavitt at the White House press briefing—that aim to paint Goldberg as an unreliable reporter.

“I believe Goldberg lived up to the expectation of responsible, quality reporting- shedding light on the dark, often hidden corners of our government,” an anonymous faculty member said. “Did Goldberg’s actions not protect the interests of the American people, and the safety of our armed forces abroad?”

All of the screenshots have been published on The Atlantic.