The Atlantic magazine confronts Trump and publishes Signal chat attack plans.

WashingtonThe Atlantic stands up to the Donald Trump administration, which wants to downplay the security crisis of the Signal chat in which its editor-in-chief was mistakenly included. The magazine published plans on Wednesday to bomb Houthi targets that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth shared in the group, violating the most basic security criteria. The media outlet made the decision after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe—who were also in the chat—denied before the Senate that classified information had been disseminated. President Trump has also tried to downplay the scandal, which could trigger the first major crisis of his administration.

"Statements by Hegseth, Gabbard, Ratcliffe, and Trump, along with claims by numerous administration officials that we are lying about the content of Signal messages, have led us to believe that the public should see the messages to extract from them the experts who have reminded us that it posed "a threat to national security."

In fact, as reported yesterday by public radio NPR, days before the Signal chat leak, the Pentagon had already warned of the application's vulnerability to possible hacks. In a statement, it was warned that a "vulnerability" had been detected in the app and advised against using it, even for any type of communication.

The Atlantic explains that after Ratcliffe, Gabbard, and other senior officials denied that classified information had been shared in the chat, they wrote to the White House, the CIA, the Department of Defense, and other relevant government agencies warning them that they were considering publicizing these plans. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt responded with an email that continued to insist that the information was not classified: "This does not mean we encourage publicity of the conversation," she said.

The published chat, as the magazine had already stated in its initial article, contains the times of the bombings, the fighters used in the operation ("F-18 takeoff – first attack group –"), as well as the drones and targets. The Atlantic notes that information about the first strike group was shared in a chat room with a phone number unknown to other members "31 minutes before the first US fighter jets took off and two hours and one minute before the start of a period in which a primary target, the Houthi "Terrorist Target", was expected to strike.

"I will pray for victory"

In the conversation you can also read the comments of other high-ranking officials who were in this chat, such as the Vice President, JD Vance, who after the first messages from Hegseth with the detailed information about the bombing responded: "I will say a prayer for victory." Shortly after, the National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz – who is the one who included the journalist from The Atlantic by mistake–, shared updates on the successful targets, as well as the name of the commander in charge of the operation.

Also in the chat were White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles; Secretary of State Marco Rubio; presidential advisor Stephen Miller; and special envoy for the region, Steve Witkoff. In addition, there was also a CIA agent whose name The Atlantic has decided to remain anonymous. In the Senate, Ratcliffe assured that the officer is not undercover "and said that it was "completely appropriate" to share his name in the Signal conversation."

The publication of the chats is a response to the Trump administration's constant assertion that the security error is not serious. On Tuesday, during a meeting of his cabinet, the president downplayed the events and even allowed himself to joke about the case, assuring that what was being discussed was "so boring" that the journalist of The Atlantic He left the group. "There were no dangers, there will be no dismissals," he stated, amid an internal crisis within the White House, where senior officials believe Waltz cannot remain in office.

Trump also did not clarify who had told him that the information discussed in the group was not classified. The president avoided answering when asked: "Next question, please."

Musk investigates the leak

At the daily press conference, the White House stuck to its version and attacked The Atlantic. Although screenshots of the chat show how specific information about the timing of the bombings, the weapons, and the targets were shared, government spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt has continued to deny that it is classified information. Leavitt has launched attacks and accusations against Goldberg: she has accused him of being "a hater anti-Trump" and "a registered Democrat."

Leavitt also confirmed that Elon Musk is part of the team investigating what happened. "Who is leading the investigation is the Security Council, the White House, and Elon Musk's team. Elon Musk has offered to put his technical experts to work to figure out how this phone number was inadvertently added to the chat and make sure this doesn't happen again," Leavitt said. In the screenshots of The Atlantic The phrase "Michael Waltz added you to the group" is clearly visible.

On Tuesday night, Waltz took responsibility for what happened in an interview on Fox and announced that Musk was part of the investigation. When the host asked him how Goldberg's number ended up in the group, Waltz replied: "Have you ever had someone's contact who puts their name out there and then you get someone else's number? Of course, I didn't see that loser in the group. It looked like someone else. Whether he did it deliberately or something happened."

Leavitt has reiterated that there will "definitely" be no firings. Internally, some senior officials believe that Waltz will not survive the scandal and should not continue in his position.

The press secretary even seemed annoyed by the reporters' insistence on the scandal, recalling that President Trump had planned a last-minute appearance today to announce new changes to vehicle tariffs. "He's asked me the same question several times, and I've answered the same thing every time. If anyone has any other questions, there are a lot of different things going on in the world. We have tariffs that will likely be implemented later today," she said, visibly annoyed.

Judge Boasberg, who is overseeing the case,

The judge who will be in charge of the request filed against the Trump administration for the Signal leak is James Boasberg, the same judge who is also investigating the White House for the deportation of more than 200 Venezuelans to prisons in El Salvador. The Washington judge has been trying for days to determine the time the deportation flight took off in order to determine whether Trump violated the judicial freeze he had imposed. On Monday night, the Justice Department He invoked the privilege of state secrets to hinder the case and not sharing the time the plane departed. Now Boasberg will have to take the case for the Trump administration's apparent negligence in handling classified information.