A new document has revealed the humiliating moment when Pete Hegseth was alerted of his Signalgate blunder in the early days of MAGA 2.0.
A screenshot of a group chat discussing strikes on Houthi targets, to which The Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg was inexplicably added, shows that those in the chat, including Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance, were notified when Goldberg left the group.
The Washington Post’s FOIA director, Nate Jones, obtained the screenshot and shared it on X, revealing the moment that top Trump officials learned of their colossal mistake that became one of the biggest scandals of Trump’s first months back in office.
After the initials “TG,” believed to be then-DNI Director Tulsi Gabbard, texted “great work and effects!” in response to word of successful strikes, the screenshot shows that Goldberg exited the chat.
“Jeff Goldberg left the group,” a notification shows.
Goldberg revealed in March 2025 that then-National Security Adviser Michael Waltz added him to a “Houthi PC small group” chat on Signal, which went on to discuss war plans for an attack on Houthi targets in Yemen, including troop movements that could have put service member lives at risk had such information been made public.
Waltz was eventually booted from the president’s Cabinet, but the president punished none of the others in the chat. Those reported to be in the chat include Hegseth, who delivered updates; Vance, who questioned whether the attacks were necessary; Gabbard, who did not oppose the strikes despite being outspoken against war; as well as CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and her deputy, Stephen Miller.
Republicans tried to downplay the scandal, claiming that Goldberg sensationalized what he saw in the chat and that none of the texts sent, even those with intricate details about a military strike’s target and timing, included classified information.
It has since been revealed that members of Trump’s Cabinet have discussed official business in more than a dozen Signal group chats, despite orders to use more secure channels.
A FOIA request submitted by Democracy Forward and reviewed by The Atlantic this summer revealed 13 previously unreported Signal group chats featuring officials such as Hegseth, Rubio, and Vance, despite Trump saying officials should stop using the app after Signalgate.
Jones said his FOIA request for the Signalgate chats revealed no new information beyond a notification that Goldberg left the chat.
“Imagine being a high-level government official cheering on the bombing of a country and the killing of individuals over a Signal chat, and then seeing: ‘Jeff Goldberg left the group,’” he wrote on X.
