White House denies messages contained classified information, but controversy grows
Washington: The Atlantic has released Signal group chat messages from national security officials in the Trump administration, which were inadvertently shared with Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg. The magazine clarified that the messages were not classified, as confirmed by administration officials on Tuesday.
The chats reveal internal discussions described in an earlier Atlantic article, including Vice President JD Vance debating an airstrike on Houthi targets in Yemen. Unlike the initial report, the published messages detail the strike’s timeline and the weapons involved.
Trump officials condemn the publication
President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and other officials have strongly criticized The Atlantic and Goldberg, accusing them of misrepresenting the situation. In response, The Atlantic justified its decision to publish the messages.
“The statements by Hegseth, Gabbard, Ratcliffe, and Trump—combined with the assertions made by numerous administration officials that we are lying about the content of the Signal texts—have led us to believe that people should see the texts in order to reach their own conclusions,” Goldberg and colleague Shane Harris wrote.
Hegseth has denied that the group chat contained classified material, while Director of National Security Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe also testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee, reaffirming that the information was not classified.
However, The Atlantic argued that the messages expose the use of nonsecure communication channels for sensitive discussions, which the administration appears to downplay.
Legal concerns and White House opposition
While officials have insisted the messages were not classified, their publication could still raise legal issues under the Espionage Act, which prohibits sharing national defense information. The White House opposed the release, arguing that the chat contained sensitive deliberations among senior officials.
“As we have repeatedly stated, there was no classified information transmitted in the group chat,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
However, she added that the discussion was meant to be internal and private. “For those reasons—yes, we object to the release.”
The Atlantic noted that Leavitt did not specify which parts of the messages were considered sensitive or how their publication—more than a week after the airstrikes—could impact national security.
Political fallout
On social media, Leavitt accused The Atlantic of exaggerating the story, highlighting that the magazine referred to the messages as an “attack plan” rather than a “war plan.”
“The Atlantic has conceded: these were NOT ‘war plans.’ This entire story was another hoax written by a Trump-hater who is well-known for his sensationalist spin,” she wrote on X.
Meanwhile, Ratcliffe rejected claims that the chat was a “huge mistake” and reiterated alongside Gabbard that no classified material was shared—though the advanced details of a U.S. airstrike remain highly sensitive.