United States government group chat leaks

From March 11 to 15, 2025, a group of United States national security leaders conversed on a group chat using the messaging service Signal about imminent military operations against the Houthis in Yemen code-named Operation Rough Rider. Among the chat's members were Vice President JD Vance, top White House staff, three Cabinet secretaries, and the directors of two Intelligence Community agencies. A high-profile leak occurred when National Security Advisor Mike Waltz erroneously added Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of the American magazine The Atlantic and the moderator of the PBS weekly news program Washington Week, to the group. On March 15, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth used the chat to share sensitive and classified details of the impending airstrikes, including types of aircraft and missiles, as well as launch and attack times. The name of an active undercover CIA officer was mentioned by CIA director John Ratcliffe in the chat, while Vance and Hegseth expressed contempt for European allies.

The contents of the chat became public on March 24, when Goldberg published a partially redacted transcript in The Atlantic. The White House's National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes verified the chat's authenticity. After other Trump administration officials disputed Goldberg's characterization of the redacted sections as likely containing classified information, The Atlantic published the entire transcript on March 25. The incident raised concerns about national security leaders' information security practices, what other sensitive information they might have revealed, whether they were following records-preservation laws, accountability in the Trump administration, and more. The political scandal was nicknamed Signalgate in the media.

A forensic investigation by the White House information technology office determined that Waltz had inadvertently saved Goldberg's phone number under Hughes' contact information. Waltz then added Goldberg to the chat while trying to add Hughes. Subsequently, investigative journalists reported Waltz's team regularly created group chats to coordinate official work and that Hegseth shared details about missile strikes in Yemen to a second group chat which included his wife, his brother, and his lawyer.