Trump officials’ plan to bomb Yemen’s Houthis accidentally shared with journalist Jeffrey Goldberg in group chat
The Trump administration is facing calls for an investigation after a reporter was accidentally included in a group chat where senior US officials discussed conducting airstrikes on Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis.
Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine, was added to a group which included US vice president JD Vance, defence secretary Pete Hegseth, national security adviser Mike Waltz and director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
In an article titled The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans, Mr Goldberg revealed he “knew two hours before the first bombs exploded that the attack might be coming”.
He said he had received a connection request on the encrypted messaging service Signal by Mr Waltz on 11 March and was invited to join the “Houthi PC small group” two days later.
Responding to the report, Mr Trump said “I know nothing about it” and called The Atlantic “not much of a magazine”. He added: “I don’t know anything about it. You’re telling me about it for the first time.”
Speaking to reporters in Hawaii, Mr Hegseth said “nobody was texting war plans and that’s all I have to say about that”. He also claimed Mr Goldberg was “peddling garbage”.
Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth in the White House last week. Pic: Reuters
Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine, in 2022. Pic: Reuters
Senior Democrats have been highly critical of the incident. Congressman Jamie Raskin told Sky’s Martha Kelner: “This is such a basic error to be talking about war plans and military strategy in such a sloppy and open and public way.
“Almost certainly there were crimes committed in the process.”
When asked about the use of emojis in the group chat, Mr Raskin said: “It doesn’t surprise me coming from this crowd.”
Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called for a full investigation, saying: “This is one of the most stunning breaches of military intelligence I have read about in a very, very long time.”
On 15 March, US airstrikes killed at least 53 people in Yemen in retaliation for Houthi threats to begin targeting “Israeli” ships after Israel blocked aid entering the Gaza Strip. The daily bombardment has continued for the 10 days since then.
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From 16 March: US launches multiple strikes on Yemen’s Houthis
When Mr Goldberg initially received a connection request from Mr Waltz, he was sceptical and initially thought “someone could be masquerading as Waltz in order to somehow entrap me”.
A spokesperson for the US National Security Council said: “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.
“The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials. The ongoing success of the Houthi operation demonstrates that there were no threats to our service members or our national security.”
Read more:
Who are the Houthis?
A US ship fires missiles during the strikes. Pic: US Central Command/Reuters
Group included ‘active intelligence officer’
After he was added to the “Houthi PC small group” on 13 March, Mr Goldberg saw a message from Mr Waltz asking the other members to provide a point of contact “for us to coordinate with over the next couple of days and over the weekend”.
In total, 18 people were part of the group, Mr Goldberg said, including Steve Witkoff, Mr Trump’s Middle East and Ukraine negotiator, and an “active intelligence officer” whose name he did not publish.
Smoke rises in Yemen’s capital Houthi after US airstrikes. Pic: AP
The next day Mr Waltz texted the group: “Team, you should have a statement of conclusions with taskings per the Presidents [sic] guidance this morning in your high side inboxes,” with “high side” referring to classified computer systems.
“State and DOD [Department of Defence], we developed suggested notification lists for regional Allies and partners. Joint Staff is sending this am [morning] a more specific sequence of events in the coming days and we will work w DOD to ensure COS [chief of staff], OVP [office of the vice president] and POTUS [president of the United States] are briefed.”
Smoke rises from an explosion after a group of buildings were hit during the strikes. Pic: US Central Command/Reuters
‘I think we are making a mistake’, vice president says
Mr Vance, who was at an economic event in Michigan, messaged: “I think we are making a mistake.
“[Three] percent of US trade runs through the [Suez Canal]. 40 percent of European trade does. There is a real risk that the public doesn’t understand this or why it’s necessary. The strongest reason to do this is, as POTUS said, to send a message.”
He added: “I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now. There’s a further risk that we see a moderate to severe spike in oil prices. I am willing to support the consensus of the team and keep these concerns to myself. But there is a strong argument for delaying this a month, doing the messaging work on why this matters, seeing where the economy is, etc.”
The aftermath of US airstrikes in Yemen’s capital Sanaa. Pic: Reuters
European ‘free-loading’ is ‘PATHETIC’, senior officials say
Later in the conversation, Mr Waltz criticised the limited capabilities of European navies, writing: “Whether it’s now or several weeks from now, it will have to be the United States that reopens these shipping lanes. Per the president’s request we are working with DOD and State to determine how to compile the cost associated and levy them on the Europeans.”
Mr Vance addressed Mr Hegseth in a message reading: “If you think we should do it let’s go. I just hate bailing Europe out again.”
Pics: The Atlantic
Mr Hegseth replied: “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.”
An account believed to be the deputy White House chief of staff, Stephen Miller, then 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.”
Messages could ‘harm American military and intelligence personnel’
The next day, the day of the strikes, Mr Goldberg said he saw messages which “if they had been read by an adversary of the United States, could conceivably have been used to harm American military and intelligence personnel”.
“I will say a prayer for victory,” Mr Vance said.
Mr Goldberg said after the strikes many of those in the group celebrated with messages including “good job” and “God bless”.
When he realised the messages were real, Mr Goldberg removed himself from the Signal group and emailed several officials in the group for comment.
A spokesperson for Mr Vance replied: “The Vice President’s first priority is always making sure that the President’s advisers are adequately briefing him on the substance of their internal deliberations.
“Vice President Vance unequivocally supports this administration’s foreign policy. The President and the Vice President have had subsequent conversations about this matter and are in complete agreement.”
It comes after Mr Hegseth’s office announced a crackdown on leaking sensitive information.
A British surgeon working in southern Gaza has compared the region to a “slaughterhouse” because of the daily bombardment from Israeli forces.
Dr Tom Potokar, who is based at the European Hospital near Khan Younis in southern Gaza, offered his assessment of Israel’s military offensive after Palestinian health officials reported at least 130 people were killed overnight into Sunday.
Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have confirmed their troops have begun “extensive ground operations throughout the northern and southern Gaza Strip”.
In a video, Dr Potokar said it was “another day of devastation here in Gaza”, adding: “The stories coming from the north… absolutely horrific… particularly around the Indonesian Hospital.”
“I mean, it’s difficult to describe in words what’s happening here… [with the] constant sound of bombardment jets overhead.
“If Cambodia was the killing fields, then Gaza now is the slaughterhouse.”
Mourners at a funeral of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, at Al Shifa hospital, in Gaza. Pic: Reuters
His reference to Cambodia’s killing fields refers to when more than a million people were murdered in mass executions and buried by the extreme communist guerrilla group, the Khmer Rouge, under Pol Pot, between 1975 and 1979.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said 464 people had died in Israeli military strikes in the week to Sunday.
In a statement on Sunday, IDF said its air force struck “over 670 Hamas terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip to disrupt enemy preparations and support ground operations” over the past week.
A family in grief at a funeral on Sunday in Deir al Balah, central Gaza. Pic: Reuters
Dr Potokar described the impact on those on the ground, saying: “We’ve been operating all morning so far and [treating] awful explosive injuries… [including] one young woman with leg fracture and shoulder fracture and a large wound on her buttock, who came in yesterday and is not yet aware that everyone in our family was killed in the onslaught.”
Israel has launched an escalation of its war in Gaza to ramp up pressure on Hamas, seize territory, displace Palestinians to the south and take greater control over the distribution of aid.
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Israel ramps up bombing in Gaza
On Sunday, it announced and launched “extensive” new ground operations in Gaza.
It came after airstrikes killed more than 100 people, including dozens of children, overnight and into Sunday, hospitals and medics said, and forced northern Gaza’s main hospital to close.
A spokesperson for the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said: “Complete families were wiped off the civil registration record by Israeli bombardment”.
The ministry also said the bombardment had forced the closure of the Indonesian Hospital, the main hospital serving people in northern Gaza.
Nasser hospital, in the southern city of Khan Younis, said more than 48 people – mostly women and children – were killed in the area which includes tents sheltering displaced people.
In Deir al Balah, in central Gaza, at least 12 people were killed in three separate strikes, according to Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and the Nuseirat camp’s Awda Hospital.
Meanwhile, the Gaza health ministry and the Palestinian Civil Defence – which operates under the Hamas-run government – reported that 19 people were killed in several strikes in Jabalia in northern Gaza.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the strikes.
Read more from Sky News:
How Israel has escalated Gaza bombing campaign
Ceasefire talks are taking place in Qatar this weekend – with Israel saying they involve discussions on ending the war as well as a truce and hostage deal.
A statement from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said any lasting truce must include the demilitarisation of Gaza as well as the exile of Hamas militants.
But a senior Israeli official added there had been little progress so far during talks in Qatar’s capital Doha.
Sky News Arabia reported Hamas had proposed freeing about half its Israeli hostages in exchange for a two-month ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
A Palestinian official close to the discussions said: “Hamas is flexible about the number of hostages it can free, but the problem has always been over Israel’s commitment to end the war.”
Russia has launched its heaviest drone attack on Ukraine since the start of the war in 2022, the Ukrainian military has said.
A total of 273 exploding drones were reportedly fired across the Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions between Saturday night and Sunday morning.
Some 88 were intercepted and 128 “lost”, having been electronically jammed, Ukraine’s air force said.
It passes the previous record of 267 drones on the eve of the war’s third anniversary earlier this year.
Firefighters at the site of a business premises struck by a drone outside Kyiv. Pic: Reuters
Burnt out cars and buildings in the Kyiv region on Sunday. Pic: AP
In Kyiv, a 28-year-old woman was killed, and three people, including a four-year-old child were injured, according to regional governor Mykola Kalashnyk.
Just outside the city, firefighters fought to control flames at business premises destroyed by drone attacks. Russia has not commented.
Resident Vadym Tysbenko, 22, outside his drone-struck house near Kyiv. Pic: Reuters
Emergency workers put out flames after drone strikes in Kyiv. Pic: AP
Firefighters at work in the Kyiv region on Sunday. Pic: AP
It comes ahead of a planned phone call between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
Mr Trump has promised to speak to Mr Putin and then President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday about “ending the war” after the first direct talks between their two countries failed to yield a ceasefire this week.
Mr Putin snubbed Mr Zelenskyy’s offer of face-to-face talks in Turkey.
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What happened at Russia-Ukraine peace talks?
A source from the Ukrainian negotiation team told Sky News that Russia threatened “eternal war” during talks between officials.
Kremlin representatives are also reported to have threatened that Ukraine may lose “more than just loved ones” while at the negotiating table.
Talks did bring promise of the largest ever prisoner swap between the two nations – involving 1,000 prisoners of war on each side.
Ukraine’s military intelligence chief said he hoped it would take place over the next week.
Read more from Sky News:
Chilling moment in Ukraine-Russia talks
Meet the pro-Trumper that could be Romania’s president
Everything you need to know about Poland’s elections
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Nine killed in Sumy bus strike
Elsewhere in Sumy, northeastern Ukraine, on Saturday, nine people were killed and seven injured after a bus evacuating civilians was hit by a Russian drone in the town of Bilopillia, according to Ukrainian officials.
On Sunday, Mr Zelenskyy was in Vatican City attending the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV in Vatican City. Pic: Reuters
He was pictured shaking hands with US Vice President JD Vance after their tense clash at the White House earlier this year.
At least 103 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza overnight and into Sunday, according to hospitals and medics.
Israel has launched an escalation of its war in Gaza to ramp up pressure on Hamas, seize territory, displace Palestinians to the south and take greater control over the distribution of aid.
Meanwhile, Israel says talks with Hamas taking place in Qatar this weekend involve discussions on ending the war as well as a truce and hostage deal.
Addressing the strikes overnight, a spokesperson for the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said: “Complete families were wiped off the civil registration record by Israeli bombardment”.
The ministry also said airstrikes had forced the closure of the Indonesian Hospital, the main hospital serving people in northern Gaza.
Nasser hospital, in the southern city of Khan Younis, said more than 48 people – mostly women and children – were killed in the area, including tents sheltering displaced people.
Smoking debris after an airstrike at a tent camp in Khan Younis, southern Gaza on Sunday. Pic: Reuters
Saleh Zenati carries the body of his nephew killed in Khan Younis on Sunday. Pic: AP
In Deir al Balah, in central Gaza, at least 12 people were killed in three separate strikes, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital and the Nuseirat camp’s Awda hospital.
Meanwhile, the Gaza health ministry and the Palestinian Civil Defence – which operates under the Hamas-run government – reported that 19 people were killed in multiple strikes in Jabalia, northern Gaza.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the latest strikes.
Peace talks include ending war in Gaza
It comes as peace talks between Israel and Hamas continue in Qatar this weekend, including discussions about ending the war.
A statement from the Israeli Prime Minister’s office said on Sunday that any lasting truce must include the demilitarisation of Gaza as well as the exile of Hamas militants.
But a senior Israeli official added that the talks in the capital, Doha, had made little progress so far.
Sky News Arabia reported that Hamas had proposed freeing about half its Israeli hostages in exchange for a two-month ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
A Palestinian official close to the discussions said: “Hamas is flexible about the number of hostages it can free, but the problem has always been over Israel’s commitment to end the war.”
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On Saturday, Israel ramped up attacks on Gaza
Four journalists killed in Israeli airstrikes
Details have emerged on Sunday about the deaths of four Palestinian journalists in Gaza following Israeli airstrikes.
Abdel Rahman al Abadleh was missing for two days before his body was found in the town of al Qarara in southern Gaza.
Three other journalists were also killed following strikes on Saturday. Aziz al Hajjar, his wife and children, died in the Bir al Naaja neighbourhood of northern Gaza.
Ahmed al Zenati, his wife Noor al Madhoun and their children Mohammad and Khaled, were killed in Khan Younis.
Meanwhile, in Deir al Balah, central Gaza, Nour Qandil, her husband Khaled Abu Seif, and their young daughter were also killed.
![Sourced via Rosabel Crean from SN For Desk:
[LEFT] Journalist Abdel Rahman Al-Abadleh had been killed in an Israeli airstrike on the town of Al-Qarara, southern Gaza. He had been missing for two days, and only this morning his fate was confirmed
[RIGHT] Journalist Aziz Al-Hajjar, his wife, and their children were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Bir Al-Naaja neighbourhood in northern Gaza](https://e3.365dm.com/25/05/768x432/skynews-abdel-rahman-al-abadleh_6920075.png?20250518095346)
Abdel Rahman al Abadleh (L) and Aziz al Hajjar (R) are among four journalists killed in Gaza. Pic: Family handouts
![Sourced via Rosabel Crean from SN For Desk:
[LEFT] Journalist Ahmed Al-Zenati, his wife Noor Al-Madhoun and their children Mohammad and Khaled were tragically slaughtered last night in an Israeli airstrike that hit their displacement tent in Khan Younis
(RIGHT) Journalist Nour Qandil, her husband Khaled Abu Seif, and their young daughter were all killed in an Israeli airstrike on their home in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza, according to local sources](https://e3.365dm.com/25/05/768x432/skynews-ahmed-al-zenati-noor-al-madhoun_6920074.png?20250518095156)
Journalists Ahmed al Zenati (L) and Nour Qandil (R) also died in airstrikes. Pic: Family handouts
Israel has blocked the entry of medical, food and fuel supplies into Gaza since the start of March. It is attempting to pressurise Hamas into freeing Israeli hostages and has approved plans that could involve seizing the whole of Gaza and controlling aid.
‘Systematic campaign targeting hospitals’
Earlier on Sunday, Gaza’s health ministry issued a statement accusing Israel of “intensifying its systematic campaign to target hospitals”.
“After putting the European Gaza Hospital out of service a few days ago, the Israeli occupation has intensified its targeting and siege of the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip since dawn today,” it added.
Israel has previously denied deliberately targeting civilians and accused Hamas of using hospitals for military purposes.
This week, Israel said it had bombed the European Hospital because it was home to an underground Hamas base, but Sky News analysis has cast doubt on its evidence.
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Mass protests on Saturday mark 77 years since the Nakba
Houthis launch missile towards Israel
Separately, the Israeli military said on Sunday it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen towards Israel.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said they had targeted Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv with two ballistic missiles.
The Houthis have fired at Israel because of the plight of Palestinians in Gaza, while Israel has carried out airstrikes in response, including one on 6 May that damaged Yemen’s main airport in Sanaa and killed several people.
The war in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting 251 others.
Israel’s military response has killed more than 53,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
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