The Stunning Trump Leak Should be a Major Scandal

Texting war plans to a reporter by accident is a historic breach borne of idiocy

Yesterday, The Atlantic broke one of the most shocking stories I have read in my twenty-plus years of politics. Let me just share the lede of this bombshell from editor-in-chief Jeff Goldberg:

The world found out shortly before 2 p.m. Eastern time on March 15 that the United States was bombing Houthi targets across Yemen.

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.

I highly recommend reading the whole thing, but the short version is that Michael Waltz, Trump’s National Security Advisor, accidentally invited Goldberg to join a group chat on Signal, an encrypted messaging app. This chat was called “Houthi PC Small Group.” In this context, PC stands for Principal’s Committee. Within the White House, a Principal’s Committee meeting refers to the group of Cabinet-level officials working on a specific issue. And a Principal’s Committee it was. Waltz invited Goldberg to a group chat that included Vice President Vance, the Secretaries of Defense and Treasury, the CIA Director, and the Director of National Intelligence. They all spoke freely about a highly classified operation with a reporter listening in the whole time.

1. This Should Be a National Scandal

Accidentally sharing war plans with a reporter should be a massive scandal. It’s one of the biggest (and dumbest) national security leaks in recent history. The Trump National Security Advisor invited a reporter to listen in on some of the most intimate and secretive conversations among the team. This is no different than inviting someone without security clearance to hide under the White House Situation Room table.