WASHINGTON - A US journalist was inadvertently included in a group chat in which Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice-President J.D. Vance and other top American officials discussed upcoming strikes against Yemen’s Houthi rebels, the White House confirmed on March 24.

President Donald Trump announced the strikes on March 15, but in a shocking security breach, The Atlantic magazine’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg wrote that he had hours of advance notice via the group chat on Signal.

“The message thread that was reported appears to be authentic, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain,” National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said.

Mr Trump meanwhile told journalists that “I don’t know anything about it. You’re telling me about it for the first time,” also saying that “the attack was very effective” in any case.

The leak could have been highly damaging if Mr Goldberg had publicised details of the plan in advance, but he did not do so even after the fact.

He did however write that Mr Hegseth sent information on the strikes, including on “targets, weapons the US would be deploying, and attack sequencing,” to the group chat.

“According to the lengthy Hegseth text, the first detonations in Yemen would be felt two hours hence, at 1.45pm eastern time,” Mr Goldberg wrote – a timeline that was borne out on the ground in Yemen.

Mr Goldberg said he was added to the group chat two days earlier, and received messages from other top government officials designating representatives who would work on the issue.

‘Stunning and dangerous’

On March 14, a person identified as Vance expressed doubts about carrying out the strikes, saying he hated “bailing Europe out again,” as countries there were more affected by Houthi attacks on shipping than the United States.

Group chat contributors identified as National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Mr Hegseth both sent messages arguing only Washington had the capability to carry out the mission, with the latter official noting that he shared Mr Vance’s “loathing of Eur...