March 25, 2025: Top US officials, including President Donald Trump’s defence secretary, accidentally shared secret war plans with a journalist through a secure messaging app. The plans were for upcoming military strikes in Yemen against Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

The journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of the Atlantic, revealed that he received an invitation to join a secret chat group on March 13. The group discussed sensitive national security issues, including target locations, weapons and attacks sequencing for airstrike in Yemen.

The US has been conducting airstrikes against the Houthis since November 2023, after they attacked commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea. Just two hours after Goldberg received the attack details, the US launched a series of airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.

President Trump initially denied knowledge of the leak, saying, “I don’t know anything about it.” However, he later joked about the breach, sharing a satirical article on social media that mocked the situation.

The National Security Council confirmed that the “text chain appears to be authentic”, and is investigating how the journalist was accidentally added to the group chat.