The digital age continues to rewrite the rules of national security—sometimes with all the subtlety of a missile strike. That lesson was driven home last month when The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, found himself inside a live Signal group chat populated by some of the Trump administration’s top national security officials.
The topic? A real-time strategy discussion surrounding a bombing campaign against Houthi militants in Yemen. The fallout? Predictably explosive.
At the center of the breach was National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, who unwittingly invited Goldberg into the high-level conversation. The error wasn’t malicious—it was the kind of modern tech slip that starts small and spirals fast. A forensic review uncovered that the mishap originated with a contact card mix-up on Waltz’s government-issued iPhone, triggered by an automated prompt.
Here’s how it unraveled: Goldberg had emailed former Trump spokesman Brian Hughes in October 2024, regarding a critical article about the former president’s wartime rhetoric.
Hughes, in turn, forwarded the email—complete with Goldberg’s signature and phone number—to Waltz, asking him to handle the media inquiry. Waltz, relying on Apple’s smart contact suggestions, saved the number under Hughes’ name, not realizing he was now carrying the digital fingerprint of a high-profile journalist in his contact list.
When Waltz later initiated a private Signal chat labeled “Houthi PC small group,” he included what he thought was Hughes—now Waltz’s national security spokesman—but was in fact Jeffrey Goldberg.
The Atlantic editor himself admitted he thought the invite was a prank, a tell-tale sign of how surreal the situation had become. Yet, once inside, he observed quietly and captured the raw, unfiltered dialogue of America’s top foreign policy minds.
The revelation sent Washington into a tailspin. Goldberg’s eventual article stunned political insiders and infuriated Trump loyalists. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth—all were caught in mid-operation chatter that was never meant for public consumption. The implications weren’t just political—they were operational.
The incident has reignited scrutiny over the use of Signal, a messaging app that, while encrypted, lacks the hardened protections necessary for handling national security communications. Initially adopted by the Biden-Harris transition team for interagency coordination, the app remained a holdover under Trump’s return to power. Officials have since confirmed that a transition to a more secure platform is underway.
As for accountability, President Trump reportedly flirted with the idea of firing Waltz. But in a move that both neutralized political fallout and reasserted control, he declined. “He learned from his mistake,” Trump said in public remarks, sidestepping what would have otherwise been a high-profile resignation that handed a victory to The Atlantic.
