A series of messages from a group chat where the US bombing of Houthis in Yemen was being planned were leaked after they accidentally added a journalist by mistake.
The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg explained that he'd been texted the bombing plans two hours before the operation was carried out with 'precise information about weapons packages, targets, and timing' by US defence secretary Pete Hegseth.
Goldberg wrote in The Atlantic that on 11 March he'd got a connection request on the app Signal from a user called Michael Waltz, an adviser to Donald Trump, and accepted it despite thinking it could have been a hoax from people pretending to be figures in the US government.
As it turns out, they actually were the real deal and they'd mistakenly added the journalist to their group chat.
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What did the war plan group chat messages say?
The chat started on 13 March, with the message from Waltz getting everyone to nominate a point of contact, one of which Goldberg did not include in his reporting since they were an 'active intelligence agent'.
The following morning started with another message from Waltz, and US Vice President JD Vance voiced doubts over the plan saying 'I think we are making a mistake'.
"3 percent of US trade runs through the suez. 40 percent of European trade does," Vance wrote in his message as he said there was a 'real risk that the public doesn't understand this'.
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He went on to say he was 'not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now', and said there was also a risk of 'a moderate to severe spike in oil prices' but was willing to keep his concerns quiet.
Further messages followed, including from Hegseth where he said 'nobody knows who the Houthis are' and said there were two reasons why they might not want to delay.
The first was the now rather ironic 'this leaks, and we look indecisive', the second was: "Israel takes an action first – or Gaza cease fire falls apart – and we don’t get to start this on our own terms."
Further messages started bashing Europe, as Vance told Hegseth 'if you think we should do it let’s go. I just hate bailing Europe out again'.
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He added: "Let's just make sure our messaging is tight here. And if there are things we can do upfront to minimize risk to Saudi oil facilities we should do it."
The defence secretary responded: "VP: I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC.
"But Mike is correct, we are the only ones on the planet (on our side of the ledger) who can do this. Nobody else even close. Question is timing. I feel like now is as good a time as any, given POTUS directive to reopen shipping lanes.
"I think we should go; but POTUS still retains 24 hours of decision space."
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A new message from someone listed in the chat as SM, which Goldberg suggests is deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller, spoke of the US needing to get some 'further economic gain extracted in return'.
It said: "As I heard it, the president was clear: green light, but we soon make clear to Egypt and Europe what we expect in return.
"We also need to figure out how to enforce such a requirement. EG, if Europe doesn’t remunerate, then what?
"If the US successfully restores freedom of navigation at great cost there needs to be some further economic gain extracted in return."
Hegseth wrote 'Agree' in response.
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The next day (15 March) when the US bombed the Houthis, Hegseth posted a message which Goldberg didn't share as he said the information could 'have been used to harm American military and intelligence personnel', but contained information on the bombing plans for Yemen.
JD Vance replied 'I will say a prayer for victory', and two others responded with praying emojis.
Goldberg waited to hear news of bombing in Yemen which would verify the group chat he'd been added to was genuine, and got confirmation a couple of hours later.
JD Vance described the bombing news as 'excellent', John Ratcliffe called it 'A good start' while Michael Waltz sent the fist emoji followed by the US flag and then the fire emoji.
"Good Job Pete and your team!!" was the message from Marco Rubio, while Waltz said 'The team in MAL did a great job as well' and the account Goldberg suggested was Stephen Miller said 'Great work all. Powerful start.'
What has Donald Trump said about the leaked messages?
When US President Donald Trump was asked about the leaked messages he said: "I don’t know anything about it. You’re telling me about it for the first time."
He then attacked The Atlantic as 'not much of a magazine' and then later shared a social media post from Elon Musk saying: "4D Chess: Genius Trump Leaks War Plans to ‘The Atlantic’ Where No One Will Ever See Them.”
National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes told the BBC that the group chat is authentic and they're looking at how Goldberg was added into it.
He said: "At this time, the message thread that was reported appears to be authentic. We are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain.
“The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy co-ordination between senior officials.”
The full set of leaked messages and their contexts are available on The Atlantic.
Topics: US News, Politics, World News, JD Vance, Technology
Joe Harker