White House 'leaks' Yemen war plans

WASHINGTON — Top Trump administration officials mistakenly disclosed war plans in a messaging group that included a journalist shortly before the United States attacked Yemen's Houthis, the White House said on Monday, following a firsthand account by The Atlantic.

Democratic lawmakers swiftly blasted the misstep, saying it was a breach of US national security and a violation of law that must be investigated by Congress.

The Atlantic's editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg 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". In the group, US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz asked his deputy Alex Wong to set up a "tiger team "to coordinate US action against the Houthis.

National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said the chat group appeared to be authentic.

US President Donald Trump launched a campaign of large-scale military strikes against Yemen's Houthis on March 15 over the group's attacks on Red Sea shipping. He has warned Iran that it needed to immediately halt support to the group.

Hours before those strikes started, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted operational details about the plan in the messaging group, "including information about targets, weapons the US would be deploying, and attack sequencing", Goldberg said. His report omitted the details but termed it a "shockingly reckless" use of Signal chat.

Accounts that appeared to represent Vice-President JD Vance, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and senior National Security Council officials were in the chat group, Goldberg wrote.

Trump told reporters that he was unaware of the incident. "I don't know anything about it. I'm not a big fan of The Atlantic," he said.

A White House official said later that an investigation was underway and Trump had been briefed on it.

Hughes of the National Security Council said in a statement: "At this time, the message thread that was reported appears to be authentic, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain."

Under US law, it can be a crime to mishandle, misuse or abuse classified information, though it is unclear whether those provisions might have been breached in this case. The Atlantic report said the messages were set up by Waltz to disappear from the Signal app after a period of time — raising questions about possible violations of federal record-keeping laws.

Top intelligence officials will face Congress this week to offer their first testimony in office about the threats facing the US and tackle urgent questions about the security breach.

The US strikes on Houthis entered their 10th day without any sign of stopping. The airstrikes pounded sites across the country into early Tuesday, with the group saying one attack in the capital killed at least two people and wounded more than a dozen others.

Agencies Via Xinhua