WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
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AUTHOR: M.J. GDNUS
On Friday, March 15, the world learned that the United States (U.S.) was bombing Houthi targets in Yemen. Atlantic journalist Jeffrey Goldberg claims he knew about the operation two hours before it happened because he was added to a group where President Donald Trump’s administration was planning the action.
Goldberg asserts that U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sent him a message with detailed attack plans at 11:44 AM. The message included targets, types of weapons, and the exact time of the attack.
The story began in October 2023, after Hamas attacked southern Israel. The Iranian-backed militant group, the Houthis, began attacking Israeli targets and international maritime traffic in response to Israeli attacks on Gaza, which caused chaos in global trade. In 2024, the Biden administration failed to respond effectively to those attacks. When Trump returned to power, he promised a tougher response, according to Index.hr.
It all started when Goldberg received a connection request on the Signal app from someone identifying themselves as Michael Waltz, Trump's national security advisor. Goldberg assumed it might be the real Waltz, but wasn’t sure.
Planning the Yemen Attack in a Group
Two days later, Goldberg found himself included in a group chat called "Houthi PC small group." The group contained top U.S. officials: the defense secretary, foreign secretary, treasury secretary, CIA director, and other senior figures. They were discussing the upcoming attack on the Houthis as though it were normal to plan such an operation over an unsecured app while accidentally including a journalist.
The discussion lasted for hours. They talked about attack targets, the consequences for global trade, the danger of rising oil prices, and frustration with Europe’s "smuggling"—their term for Europe depending on the U.S. military without paying its fair share. Some wanted to wait, but the majority decided to act immediately.
On Saturday, March 15, at 11:44 AM, Hegseth sent a "TEAM UPDATE" to the group—confirming that the attack would commence in two hours and detailing what would be targeted, with what weapons, and in what order. Two hours later, explosions rocked Yemen's capital, Sana'a. Goldberg couldn’t believe it was actually happening.
Goldberg Exited the Group
After the attack, the group celebrated. "Great job!", "God bless you!", "Hats off to everyone at CENTCOM!" Messages with U.S. flags and prayer emojis followed.
Goldberg realized it was all real. He immediately exited the group, aware that the administrator would notice, but no one contacted him or asked who he was.
He later sent messages to Waltz, Hegseth, and others asking if it was a real group and whether they knew he was in it. No one responded except for a spokesperson from the National Security Council, who admitted that the group was authentic and that they were investigating how the "unknown number" ended up in the conversation.
Goldberg says he’s never seen such a breach of security protocols. Signal is used for meeting arrangements, but not for exchanging military plans. The fact that the U.S. defense secretary shared operational attack details with people on the app—and included a journalist—is simply unbelievable.
Trump Did What He Criticized Hillary Clinton For
National security experts say this could be a serious violation of the law on safeguarding state secrets and handling classified information. Furthermore, apps like Signal are not allowed for such things. There are special security rooms (SCIFs), and mobile phones are not allowed near such spaces.
Moreover, there’s the question of whether those messages will even be archived since they were set to disappear after a few weeks. According to official data retention laws, all communications about official decisions must be kept.
Ironically, Donald Trump spent years demanding that Hillary Clinton be jailed for using a private server for official work. Now, his closest associates have done something even worse, using an app that could easily be hacked.
White House Confirms the Incident
Trump commented on the case and immediately blamed *The Atlantic*.
"I don’t know anything about it. I’m not a big fan of *The Atlantic*. To me, it’s a failing magazine. But I don’t know anything about it," he said.
The White House confirmed today that the editor-in-chief of *The Atlantic* was accidentally added to a very confidential group chat with high-ranking U.S. officials discussing the attacks on Yemeni Houthis.
This is widely considered one of the most serious security breaches in recent U.S. military history.
“At this time, it seems that the series of messages cited in the article are authentic, and we are investigating how the number was added by mistake,” said Brian Hugs, a National Security Council spokesperson.
