The Trump administration went into attack mode after the The Atlantic published its latest bombshell revelations about war plans shared in a Signal group.
Jeffrey Goldberg, the magazine’s editor-in-chief who was mistakenly added to a group chat about airstrikes in Yemen, initially held back some messages over concerns about national security breaches.
But after repeated denials from Trump officials that the messages contained classified material, The Atlantic on Tuesday released further texts outlining specific details of the military strikes on Houthi targets, including a detailed timeline.
Within minutes of the story’s publication, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt set the tone of the response — suggesting the magazine was downplaying its initial story by using the phrase “attack plans” in its latest headline, rather than “war plans,” as she also made personal attacks on the reporter.
“The Atlantic has conceded: these were NOT ‘war plans,’” she wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, with a screenshot of the headline.
“This entire story was another hoax written by a Trump-hater who is well-known for his sensationalist spin.”
Appearing on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Goldberg said it was not clear what she is arguing.
“They’re talking about attacking and killing terrorists using various weapon systems,” he said. “She’s just playing some sort of weird semantic game. I don’t understand.”
Others in the White House picked up Leavitt’s theme.
National security adviser Mike Waltz, who is thought to have set up the Signal chat, wrote on X, “No locations. No sources & methods. NO WAR PLANS.”
And Vice President JD Vance, picking up on The Atlantic’s latest headline, said on the platform, “It’s very clear Goldberg oversold what he had.”
Trump’s White House counselor Alina Habba told reporters The Atlantic is “making a big to-do about nothing,” and described Goldberg as “a reporter that is trying to get clout.”