The Atlantic Releases the Entire Signal Chat Showing Hegseth’s Detailed Attack Plans against Houthis

US Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) points to text messages by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during an annual worldwide threats assessment hearing at the Longworth House Office Building on March 26, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images/AFP)
US Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) points to text messages by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during an annual worldwide threats assessment hearing at the Longworth House Office Building on March 26, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images/AFP)
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The Atlantic Releases the Entire Signal Chat Showing Hegseth’s Detailed Attack Plans against Houthis

US Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) points to text messages by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during an annual worldwide threats assessment hearing at the Longworth House Office Building on March 26, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images/AFP)
US Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) points to text messages by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during an annual worldwide threats assessment hearing at the Longworth House Office Building on March 26, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images/AFP)

The Atlantic on Wednesday released the entire Signal chat among senior national security officials, showing that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth provided the exact timings of warplane launches and when bombs would drop — before the men and women flying those attacks against Yemen’s Houthis this month on behalf of the United States were airborne.

The disclosure follows two intense days during which leaders of President Donald Trump's intelligence and defense agencies have struggled to explain how details that current and former US officials have said would have been classified wound up on an unclassified Signal chat that included Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg,

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has said no classified information was posted to the Signal chat.

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he and Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, the committee’s top Democrat, plan to send a letter to the Trump administration requesting an inspector general investigation into the use of Signal. They want a classified briefing with a top administration official "who can speak to the facts" of the episode.

Top military official was not included in the chat

The chat was also notable for who it excluded: the only military attendee of the principals committee, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Adm. Christopher Grady is currently serving in that position in an acting capacity because Trump fired former chairman Gen. CQ Brown Jr. in February.

National security adviser Mike Waltz was authorized to decide whether to include the Joint Chiefs chairman in the principals committee discussion, "based on the policy relevance of attendees to the issues being considered, the need for secrecy on sensitive matters, staffing needs, and other considerations," the White House said in a Jan. 20 memo.

The Pentagon said it would not comment on the issue, and it was not immediately clear why Grady, currently serving as the president’s top military adviser, would not be included in a discussion on military strikes.

Hegseth has refused to say whether he posted classified information onto Signal. He is traveling in the Indo-Pacific and to date has only scoffed at questions, saying he did not reveal "war plans." Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe told members of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday that it was up to Hegseth to determine whether the information he was posting was classified or not.

Very specific texts

What was revealed was jaw-dropping in its specificity and includes the type of information that is kept to a very close hold to protect the operational security of a military strike. But Hegseth’s spokesman, Sean Parnell, said in a statement Wednesday that "there were no classified materials or war plans shared. The Secretary was merely updating the group on a plan that was underway."

In the group chat, Hegseth posted multiple details about the impending strike, using military language and laying out when a "strike window" starts, where a "target terrorist" was located, the time elements around the attack and when various weapons and aircraft would be used in the strike. He mentioned that the US was "currently clean" on operational security."

"Godspeed to our Warriors," he wrote.

"1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package)"

"1345: ‘Trigger Based’ F-18 1st Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME – also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s)"

"1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package)"

"1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier ‘Trigger Based’ targets)"

"1536 F-18 2nd Strike Starts – also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched."

"MORE TO FOLLOW (per timeline)"

"We are currently clean on OPSEC" — that is, operational security.

"Godspeed to our Warriors."

Goldberg has said he asked the White House if it opposed publication and that the White House responded that it would prefer he did not publish.

Signal is encrypted but can be vulnerable Signal is a publicly available app that provides encrypted communications, but it can be hacked. It is not approved for carrying classified information.

On March 14, one day before the strikes, the Defense Department cautioned personnel about the vulnerability of Signal, specifically that Russia was attempting to hack the app, according to a US official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

One known vulnerability is that a malicious actor, with access to a person’s phone, can link his or her device to the user’s Signal and essentially monitor messages remotely in real time.

Leavitt is one of three Trump administration officials who face a lawsuit from The Associated Press on First and Fifth Amendment grounds. The AP says the three are punishing the news agency for editorial decisions they oppose. The White House says the AP is not following an executive order to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.



Putin Gears Up to Host World Leaders at Lavish Army Parade

The commemoration is Putin's fourth since sending troops into Ukraine. Alexander NEMENOV / POOL/AFP
The commemoration is Putin's fourth since sending troops into Ukraine. Alexander NEMENOV / POOL/AFP
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Putin Gears Up to Host World Leaders at Lavish Army Parade

The commemoration is Putin's fourth since sending troops into Ukraine. Alexander NEMENOV / POOL/AFP
The commemoration is Putin's fourth since sending troops into Ukraine. Alexander NEMENOV / POOL/AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin will host a lavish World War II Victory Day parade in Moscow on Friday, an event the Kremlin hopes will rally patriotism at home and project strength abroad as its troops fight in Ukraine.

More than 20 foreign dignitaries including China's Xi Jinping and Slovakia's Robert Fico are scheduled to attend the annual parade this year, the fourth since Moscow launched a full-scale military assault on its neighbor in February 2022.

Officials promise that commemorations this year -- the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany -- will be the "biggest" ever, with Putin ordering a "humanitarian" truce with Ukraine over the holiday.

Ukraine, which has dismissed the truce as a farce, has called the events in Russia a "parade of cynicism" and has warned that it cannot guarantee the safety of world leaders attending.

The festival will be marked with a massive parade of military equipment and soldiers through Red Square, culminating in an address from the Russian leader.

Since sending troops into Ukraine, Putin has frequently drawn parallels between Russia's modern-day army and the Soviet soldiers who fought Nazi Germany.

At a dinner in honor of foreign leaders visiting the parade, Putin proposed a toast to "victory".

Russia began its assault on Ukraine in February 2022, hoping to take the country in days, but has since become embroiled in a huge, bloody conflict that has killed tens of thousands.

'Dear friend' Xi

Security has been tight in Moscow, where organizers have banned attendees from bringing vape pens, electric scooters or "any animals" to the Victory Parade.

Authorities have also jammed mobile internet connections in the capital, citing the threat of Ukrainian attacks.

Putin unilaterally ordered a three-day truce for the duration of the holiday, starting Thursday, but Ukraine has accused Russia of breaking it hundreds of times.

Kyiv argues the parade has "nothing to do with the victory over Nazism" and that those marching on Red Square were "quite likely" implicit in crimes against Ukrainians.

The two most important guests this year are China's Xi Jinping and Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Despite warnings from Brussels, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico will also attend -- the only leader from the European Union taking part.

Aleksandar Vucic, president of Serbia, a country with historically strong ties to Moscow, will also join.

The day before the parade, Xi and Putin met in the Kremlin, where the two held talks for more than three hours.

After their meeting, Putin addressed the Chinese leader as his "dear friend", while the two issued messages of defiance towards the West.

'Great Patriotic War'

World War II is officially remembered in Russia as the "Great Patriotic War", beginning with Germany's surprise invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 and ending with Germany's capitulation in 1945.

The period between 1939 and 1941, when the Soviet Union had a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany, is glossed over in official history books.

The war had a devastating impact on the Soviet Union, resulting in more than 20 million civilian and military deaths.

Throughout his quarter-century in power, Putin has tapped into this national trauma, making May 9 Russia's most important public holiday and championing his army as defenders against fascism.

Authorities banned criticism of the military weeks after the Ukraine offensive began, and have since charged thousands in the biggest domestic crackdown in Russia's post-Soviet history.

School textbooks introduced since the offensive refer to Ukraine as an "ultra-nationalist state", likening it to the Nazi occupation government which ruled the country between 1941 and 1944.

In a speech announcing the offensive against Ukraine, Putin said the Russian army aimed to "de-Nazify" the country, a claim Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called "incomprehensible".