Trump reveals secret chat: Scoop about war plans or witch hunt?

Trump reveals secret chat: Scoop about war plans or witch hunt?

US President Donald Trump today had an interview with Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, announced. The reason for the upcoming conversation is Trump's interest in finding out whether the magazine can write the truth after he accused Goldberg of publishing many fabricated stories about him. The interview will take place on Thursday and will also provide context for the current discussion about secret war plans and their publication.

An explosive situation arose when Goldberg was accidentally added to a group chat on the Signal messenger service. In this group, senior Trump administration officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, discussed planned airstrikes against the Houthi militia in Yemen. According to [oe24](https://www.oe24.at/welt/trump-gabe-the-atlantic-chef editor-interview/631223958), there were also discussions about attack times and the aircraft used, information that Goldberg eventually published.

Secret war plans and their revelation

The incident represents a potential high-level leak that raises questions about the competence and security of the current government. Democrats have sharply criticized the government and accused it of endangering the lives of US soldiers by disclosing such military plans. As a result, prominent members of the opposition have even called for the resignation of Defense Minister Hegseth, as reported by HuffPost.

Despite ongoing criticism from Democrats, the Trump administration denies any allegations that secret information was exchanged in the chat. Trump described the incident as a “witch hunt” against his employees. Hegseth pushed back against reports that he shared confidential information in a private group, saying the media was trying to ruin his reputation.

The discussion in the chat

Goldberg was able to follow the discussion without the ministers being aware of it. He later published the full transcription of the chat to verify the confidentiality of the conversations. The chat consisted of 18 participants from the Trump administration and was unintentionally created by security adviser Michael Waltz. While Goldberg redacted some of the information at the CIA's request, he chose to release the rest, which was considered unclassified. However, this decision was not well received by everyone in the government, as can be seen from the reactions at Zeit.

Amid controversy over military plans and handling of sensitive information, the upcoming conversation between Trump and Goldberg is highly anticipated. It remains to be seen whether issues of transparency and government accountability will be raised in this interview.