US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth texted planned time of targeted killing of Yemeni ‘terrorist’ in leaked Signal chat

U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth at the White House on February 4, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth texted the start time for a planned killing of a Houthi militant in Yemen on March 15, 2025 as well as other details of imminent waves of U.S. strikes, according to a screenshot of a text chat released by The Atlantic on Wednesday (March 26, 2025).

Mr. Hegseth has repeatedly denied texting war plans as President Donald Trump’s administration tries to contain fallout of revelations that it included The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg in a group chat on the encrypted messaging app Signal with Mr. Trump’s most senior national security advisors to coordinate on Yemen.

The Trump administration said on Tuesday (March 25, 2025) that no classified information was shared in the chat, bewildering Democrats and former U.S. officials, who regard targeting information as some of the most closely-held material ahead of a U.S. military campaign.

Mr. Goldberg, who had initially declined to publish the chat details, did so on Wednesday (March 26, 2025).

Mr. Hegseth’s text included these details, according to The Atlantic:

“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)”

Senior U.S. national security officials have classified systems that are meant to be used to communicate secret materials.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe testified on Tuesday (March 25, 2025) that Security Advisor Mike Waltz set up the Signal chat for unclassified coordination and that teams would be “provided with information further on the high side for high-side communication.”

It was a mistake journalist was added to Signal chat: Tulsi Gabbard

Meanwhile, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said on Wednesday (March 26, 2025) it was a mistake that the editor of The Atlantic was added to a Signal messaging chat discussing sensitive war plans.

Ms. Gabbard also told a House of Representatives hearing on Worldwide Threats, which was scheduled before the news of the chat, that she would be somewhat constrained in her ability to discuss the incident because of a lawsuit filed over the case.