The majority of U.S. adults said it was a “very serious” problem that an Atlantic editor was included in a group chat of top Trump administration officials discussing war plans, according to a new poll—as the president attempts to downplay the incident.
President Donald Trump, U.S. National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, U.S. Vice President J.D. ... More
Most respondents, 53%, to a YouGov poll conducted Tuesday said it was a “very serious” problem that Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was included in a chat among senior administration officials discussing the U.S. military’s plans to attack the Houthi rebel group in Yemen, while 21% said it was a “somewhat serious” problem.
Americans on both sides of the political spectrum were largely united in their opinions of the mishap: 89% of Democrats, 72% of Independents and 60% of Republicans said it was a “very serious” or “somewhat serious” problem, according to the online survey of 5,976 U.S. adults (margin of error 2).
Nearly half, 48%, of U.S. adults said they think Trump officials broke the law by sharing the military plans, including 76% of Democrats, 46% of Independents and 21% of Republicans.
National Security Adviser Mike Waltz added Goldberg to the Signal group officials used to discuss the March 15 strike against the Houthis, the Atlantic revealed Monday, before publishing screenshots of the messages Wednesday that showed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth giving a detailed timeline of the attack sequence.
Trump dismissed the revelations as “really not a big deal” on Wednesday, after defending Waltz Tuesday amid reports officials were weighing his ouster.
More Americans view the Signal leak as problematic than they do former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server to conduct official business, according to YouGov. In a September 2022 survey, 62% of Americans, including 40% of Democrats and 88% of Republicans, said Clinton’s email habits were a very serious or somewhat serious problem.
The texts made public Wednesday show Hegseth detailing the timing of the attacks minutes before they were set to take place, with an outline of weaponry deployment and targets. Waltz took responsibility for adding Goldberg to the chat, but the White House has not explained how the apparent error was made. Waltz, calling the leak “embarrassing,” said in a Fox News interview that Goldberg’s number was stored under another contact in his phone and questioned if Goldberg somehow infiltrated the chat “deliberately.” Trump, meanwhile, has suggested a staffer may have been responsible, a narrative Waltz contradicted in his Tuesday interview.
White House officials have repeatedly claimed the information shared in the chat was not classified, though some Republican lawmakers and unnamed current and former defense officials quoted by Politico and CNN have insisted it was or should have been classified. The government watchdog group, American Oversight, sued some of the top Trump administration officials who apparently participated in the chat Wednesday, including Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, among others. The group alleges they violated the Federal Records Act, which prevents “unlawful destruction of federal records,” by using an app that automatically erases messages after a certain time period.
Atlantic Reveals Texts From Trump Officials—With Detailed Timeline Of Houthi Attack Plan (Forbes)
Waltz Says He Doesn’t Know Atlantic Editor He Invited To War Chat—As Trump Defends Aide (Forbes)
Watchdog Sues Trump Officials Over Signal War Plans Chat (Forbes)