Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday seemingly denied being part of a Signal group chat in which potentially classified messages were shared with a journalist about a forthcoming military strike on Houthi targets in Yemen—even though the White House National Security Council said those messages appeared to be “authentic.”
Hegseth was questioned about the story, published by The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, after disembarking his plane in Hawaii, where he was scheduled to visit military bases.
A reporter first asked Hegseth, “Can you share how your information about war plans against the Houthis in Yemen was shared with a journalist with The Atlantic? And were those details classified?”
In a statement that seemingly contradicted the White House’s own account of the matter, Hegseth instead followed the Donald Trump playbook, lashing out at Goldberg.
“So, you’re talking about a deceitful and highly discredited so-called journalist who has made a profession of peddling hoaxes time and time again—to include, I don’t know, the hoaxes of ‘Russia, Russia, Russia,’ or the ‘fine people on both sides’ hoax, of the ‘suckers and losers’ hoax,” Hegseth said. “This is a guy who peddles in garbage. This is what he does.”
Among the grievances Hegseth rattled off was another story Goldberg reported, which claimed that Trump in 2018 disparaged U.S. military members who died during World War I as “suckers and losers” before a scheduled visit to a French battlefield site—a visit that was scrapped because Trump didn’t want rain to mess up his hair.
Hegseth’s evasive answer prompted was a similar question about the sensitive messages: “Why were those details shared on Signal, and how did you learn that a journalist was privy to the targets, the types of weapons used, and timing?”
Hegseth’s response was brief.
“I’ve heard I was characterized—nobody was texting war plans,” he insisted. “And that’s all I have to say about that.”
Hegseth then walked away.
Earlier Monday, though, the National Security Council confirmed the group chat, which Goldberg eventually removed himself from, seemed to be authentic.
“This appears to be an authentic message chain, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain,” council spokesman Brian Hughes told The Atlantic, adding: “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 troops or national security.”
The NSC’s confirmation was noted later by Fox News Chief Political Analyst Brit Hume, who seemed exasperated by his former colleague’s reaction.
“Oh for God’s sake,” Hume wrote on X in response to Hegseth’s denial, “the administration has already confirmed the authenticity of the message.”
