Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is denying that war plans were leaked to a journalist who was mistakenly added to a Signal chat with top Trump administration national security officials.
On Monday, The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg published a report after national security officials in the Trump administration accidentally added him to a group text chat about strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.
But, speaking with reporters in Hawaii Hegseth denied what plans were leaked and attacked Goldberg saying he was not a serious journalist and claiming that he “peddles garbage”.
“So you’re talking about a deceitful and highly discredited, so-called journalist who’s made a profession of peddling hoaxes time and time again,” he said.
Hegseth then praised the military operation, saying, “We will ultimately decimate the Houthis”.
“Why were those details shared on Signal and how did you learn that a journalist was privy to the targets,” another reporter pressed.
“I’ve heard it was characterized,” Hegseth said. “Nobody was texting war plans. And that’s all I have to say about that.”
However, the White House has already confirmed that the texts are authentic.
“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,” White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said.
