Top US officials discuss Houthi attack plan on Signal

Washington, March 25 (IANS) Top national security officials of the US President Donald Trump administration held detailed discussions about the plan for military strikes against the Houthis of Yemen on a commercial messaging service, according to multiple news reports that were subsequently confirmed by officials.

The group that held these discussions, which spanned days and included details of the strikes, the weapons used and the timing, mistakenly included a journalist, The Atlantic magazine’s editor Jeffery Goldberg.

Officials who held these discussions on Signal, an encrypted messaging service included Vice-President J D Vance, Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, NSA Mike Waltz, CIA director John Radcliffe and DNI Tulsi Gabbard. A participant identified by MAR is understood to be Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Asked about the discussion, President Trump said, “I don’t know anything about it. I’m not a big fan of the Atlantic.”

Brian Hughes, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, confirmed the authenticity of the discussions as published by The Atlantic.

“At this time, the message thread that was reported appears to be authentic, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain,” Hughes said, adding, “The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials. The continuing success of the Houthi operation demonstrates that there were no threats to our service members or our national security."

The first US strikes against the Houthis by the Trump administration began on March 15 after the Houthis threatened to resume attacks against Israel over its blockade of Gaza.

These strikes have continued with more taking place over the weekend and stretching into Monday.

The Houthis have targeted an estimated 100 merchant vessels in the waters of West Asia — the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Arabian Sea since November 2023 when Israel retaliated against Hamas for the November 7 terrorist attacks.