Virginia U.S. Senator Tim Kaine and 13 of his Senate colleagues are demanding answers from President Donald Trump after a journalist was accidentally included in an unsecured group chat where top administration officials were reportedly coordinating U.S. military operations.
According to reporting from The Atlantic, the magazine’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was mistakenly added to a Signal group chat titled “Houthi PC small group.” The chat reportedly included members of Trump’s Cabinet and detailed operational information related to U.S. airstrikes targeting Houthi rebel sites in Yemen.
Goldberg stated that he learned of the U.S. plans approximately two hours before the first bombs were dropped. Signal is an encrypted messaging app that is not classified for secure communications.
Kaine, who serves on both the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, has joined a group of Democratic senators in a formal letter to President Trump asking for a full explanation. Their letter outlines multiple concerns, including potential violations of national security protocol, the Presidential Records Act, and risks to U.S. service members.
Among the questions posed in the letter are what disciplinary or remedial actions will be taken, whether other operations have been coordinated over unsecured platforms, and whether adversarial nations like China, Russia, or Iran may have had access to the chat.
When asked about the situation, Kaine said those responsible “should be severely disciplined,” calling the leak a significant security failure and a dangerous precedent for handling classified military planning.
White House officials have dismissed the concerns as exaggerated. One official called the incident a “non-story” and emphasized that the military strikes were conducted with proper authorization.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who was named in the reports, denied the allegations and described Goldberg as a “deceitful and highly discredited journalist.”
The National Security Council confirmed it is reviewing the matter and acknowledged that the chat thread, which reportedly included Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, appeared to be authentic.
In Congress, reaction has spanned both sides of the aisle. Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker, a Republican, said the incident will be reviewed on a bipartisan basis. Democratic lawmakers have described it as one of the most serious breaches of military intelligence in recent years.
The administration’s internal debate over the Yemen strikes also surfaced in the leaked messages, with Vice President Vance reportedly questioning the timing and strategic value of the operation.
Kaine and other Senate Democrats are seeking a commitment from the Trump administration to preserve the Signal messages in accordance with federal record-keeping laws and to ensure additional training is given to officials on how to properly handle sensitive or classified information.
