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Fresh Yemen war chat revelations heap pressure on White House
A US magazine published Wednesday the transcript of accidentally leaked messages laying out plans for an attack on Yemen, heaping pressure on Donald Trump's White House and boosting calls for top officials to resign.
The White House insisted that Trump still had confidence in his national security team, despite revelations in The Atlantic that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had revealed details including the times of strikes in advance.
The Atlantic's editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg reported earlier this week that he had been mistakenly added to the chat on the commercially available Signal app in a stunning security breach.
The magazine initially withheld the details of the attack plans, but finally published them on Thursday after White House had insisted that no classified details were involved and attacked Goldbeg as a liar.
The Trump administration doubled down on its attacks on Wednesday.
Peppered with questions at a daily press briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described Goldberg as an "anti-Trump hater" who "loves manufacturing and pushing hoaxes."
Leavitt would not respond directly when asked if she could definitively say that no officials would lose their jobs as Democrats called for heads to roll over the so-called "Signalgate" scandal.
"What I can say definitively is what I just spoke to the president about, and he continues to have confidence in his national security team," Leavitt told reporters.
Elon Musk, the billionaire running a huge government cost-cutting drive for Trump, had "offered to put his technical experts on this" to establish how Goldberg was added to the chat, she added.
- 'Big mistake' -
Democrats in particular turned their fire on Hegseth, the former Fox News contributor and veteran who has never run a huge organization like the Pentagon before.
They have also called for National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, who has taken responsibility for accidentally adding the journalist to the chat, to go.
Hegseth claimed the exchange about the attacks on Huthi rebels on March 15 had "No names. No targets" and said they were not "war plans."
"My job... is to provide updates in real time, general updates in real time, keep everybody informed, that's what I did," he told reporters on a visit to Hawaii on Wednesday.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was also included in the chat, admitted Wednesday that including the journalist was a "big mistake."
But calls mounted for Trump to sack officials over the breach.
"The secretary of defense should be fired immediately if he's not man enough to own up to his mistakes and resign in disgrace," House Democrat leader Hakeem Jeffries told MSNBC.
Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth said Trump should fire all the officials in the chat and called Hegseth a "liar" who "could've gotten our pilots killed."
The US House of Representatives discussed the scandal in a hearing Wednesday.
- 'First bombs' -
The Atlantic said the texting was done barely half an hour before the first US warplanes took off to hit the Huthis -- and two hours before the first target was expected to be bombed.
"1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package)", Hegseth writes, referring to F-18 US Navy jets, before adding that "Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME."
"1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier 'Trigger Based' targets)."
Hegseth also writes about the use of US drones and Tomahawk cruise missiles.
A short time later, Waltz sent real-time intelligence on the aftermath of an attack, writing that US forces had identified the target "walking into his girlfriend's building and it's now collapsed."
The story also threatens to cause further ructions between Washington and its allies, after Goldberg revealed disparaging comments by Vance and Hegseth about "pathetic" European nations during their chat.
The Trump administration has stepped up attacks on the Huthi rebels in response to constant attempts to sink and disrupt shipping through the strategic Red Sea.
The Huthi rebels, who have controlled much of Yemen for more than a decade, are part of the "axis of resistance" of pro-Iran groups staunchly opposed to Israel and the US.
Y.Niessen--JdB
