Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

What We're Watching

Will Trump find a fall guy for Signal chat revelations?

Will Trump find a fall guy for Signal chat revelations?

From left, FBI Director Kash Patel, Tulsi Gabbard, director of National Intelligence, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, testify during the House Select Intelligence Committee hearing titled “Worldwide Threats Assessment,” in Longworth building on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. The witnesses fielded questions on the Signal chat, about attacks against Houthis in Yemen, that accidentally included a reporter.

Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Sipa USA
Make us preferred on Google

The drip, drip, drip of revelations about the Trump administration’s Signal chat continued Wednesday as The Atlantic published screenshots that showed senior officials sharing military plans on the messaging app. “1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier ‘Trigger Based’ targets),” US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote at 11:44 a.m. on March 15, two hours before the United States bombed the Houthi rebels in Yemen.


The trick is not getting caught: Before The Atlantic posted receipts for its original article, Hegseth flatly denied that anyone had been “texting war plans.” Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said at a Senate hearing on Tuesday that the chat didn’t contain any “intelligence equities.” After the screenshots dropped, Gabbard denied lying to senators, telling a House hearing on Wednesday that her Tuesday testimony “was based on my recollection, or the lack thereof, on the details that were posted there.”

Deflect, deflect: President Donald Trump, meanwhile, said Wednesday that the intense focus on this chat group was “all a witch hunt.” He also suggested that the Signal messaging app was faulty and that his predecessor, Joe Biden, was to blame for not having struck Yemen earlier – but the US under Biden did lead allied strikes against the Houthis in Yemen last year.

Legal tactics: Rather than punish someone inside the government ranks, the Trump administration may instead go after The Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg, who was inadvertently added to the chat and published the screenshots.

“The Trump administration is very likely to target Goldberg with some legal repercussions, though runs the risk of keeping the story in the headlines as new angles emerge,” according to Eurasia Group US Director Clayton Allen.

For more insights on Signal-gate, check out Ian Bremmer’s latest Quick Take here.

More For You

A person casts a vote at a polling station during Zambia's general elections, including a presidential election, in Lusaka, Zambia.

A person casts a vote at a polling station during Zambia's general elections, including a presidential election, in Lusaka, Zambia, August 13, 2026.

REUTERS/Jean Mandela
Zambians want their slice of the copper piePolls closed in Zambia’s presidential election on Thursday as voters in one of Africa’s most stable democracies weighed whether the country’s economic turnaround has actually affected their wallets. President Hakainde Hichilema, who is seeking a second term, has overseen a successful debt restructuring, [...]
Nearly 5,000 protesters took part in a march against illegal immigration in Pretoria.

June 30, 2026 , Pretoria, South Africa: Nearly 5,000 protesters took part in a march against illegal immigration in Pretoria. The demonstrations were reportedly organized by more than 20 anti-migrant organizations and civil society groups, including the March and March movement.

© Manash Das/ZUMA Press Wire
South Africa bills other nations for deportationsSouth Africa is asking other African countries to reimburse them for the costs of deporting their citizens, after spending nearly $18 million on a massive deportation campaign. In recent months, the government has deported or helped other nations repatriate more than 80,000 migrants as it responds [...]
Oil tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz, December 21, 2018.

Oil tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz, December 21, 2018.

REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
The Strait escape Iran refused again on Tuesday to reopen the Strait of Hormuz unless the US meets its demands, flexing its leverage over the world’s most important artery for oil and gas shipping. But now, that leverage is prompting a rethink of global shipping routes. Saudi Arabia, one of the top oil producers in the world, plans to increase [...]
Residents dig through the debris of a collapsed building after an earthquake.

Residents dig through the debris of a collapsed building after an earthquake, in Cali, Colombia August 10, 2026.

REUTERS/Juan Pablo Arbelaez
Earthquake rocks Colombia days into new president’s termA 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck Colombia yesterday – at least 160 people have died, though officials expect the toll to rise as rescue efforts continue. The quake’s epicenter was in the Chocó region – one of Colombia’s poorest areas that has also been wracked with clashes in recent years [...]