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Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had a succinct yet pointed response to the shocking news that Trump administration officials had accidentally texted a war plan to a journalist in a group chat.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, wrote on X.
👀 You have got to be kidding me.https://t.co/IhhvFvw6DG pic.twitter.com/bnNG4dGSpI
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 24, 2025
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The irony of Clinton’s reaction wasn’t lost on many, given that she herself faced intense scrutiny—and an FBI investigation—over her handling of classified information during her tenure as Secretary of State. The FBI and Justice Department probed whether she had improperly communicated sensitive information via a private email server. Although then-FBI Director James Comey recommended against criminal charges, the controversy remained a major point of attack for her Republican opponent, Donald Trump, throughout the 2016 campaign.
A National Security Gaffe of Unprecedented Scale
The White House confirmed on Monday that a journalist was mistakenly included in a private group chat where U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other top officials were discussing military operations in Yemen.
“We are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain,” National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said.
The incident, first reported by The Atlantic’s editor Jeffrey Goldberg, raises serious concerns about the Trump administration’s operational security protocols. Goldberg detailed how he was mistakenly looped into the chat and received confidential military strike details ahead of an actual attack.
The Journalist Who Knew Too Much
“US national-security leaders included me in a group chat about upcoming military strikes in Yemen. I didn’t think it could be real. Then the bombs started falling,” Goldberg wrote in his exposé.
He went on to describe how, two hours before the first attack, he had already received classified details outlining the strike plan.
“I, however, knew two hours before the first bombs exploded that the attack might be coming. The reason I knew this is that Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, had texted me the war plan at 11:44 a.m. The plan included precise information about weapons packages, targets, and timing,” Goldberg revealed.
Initially, Goldberg was skeptical of the message, which came via Signal from someone claiming to be Michael Waltz, President Trump’s national security adviser. The text informed him of a high-level government group formed to coordinate military action against the Houthis in Yemen.
Given the Trump administration’s historically adversarial stance toward journalists, Goldberg considered the possibility that he was being pranked or that an imposter was attempting to deceive him. The fact that senior officials were discussing highly classified military operations over a commercial messaging app—rather than through secure government channels—only deepened his doubts.
A Costly Misstep in National Security
The incident underscores glaring weaknesses in the Trump administration’s communication protocols, raising serious national security concerns. While Clinton’s use of a private email server remained a source of political controversy, this breach involved real-time military planning, potentially endangering national security and military personnel. As scrutiny mounts, the White House’s explanation and future handling of such sensitive information remain under close watch.
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