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# US officials’ Signal chat, exposed by a journalist’s invite — confirmed

The White House said the thread appeared authentic; officials disputed descriptions and classification of its contents. Linked sources: The Guardian and BBC.

Leaked on 24 March 2025

![Original Leakly terminal-style archive card: US officials’ Signal chat, exposed by a journalist’s invite — confirmed](https://leakly.com/assets/og/signal-chat-exposure.png)

The Signal story began with a journalist being included where he should not have been. On March 24, 2025, [The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/24/journalist-trump-yemen-war-chat) reported that a US magazine editor said he had been added to a group chat involving senior US officials discussing military plans — an accidental inclusion, not a break of the app’s encryption. The [BBC](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy4v3ndg28jo) followed on March 25.

This was not evidence that Signal’s encryption had been broken. An encrypted conversation can still expose sensitive information when someone adds the wrong participant. The software’s protections and the participants’ handling of invitations are separate questions. The Guardian noted that Signal is regarded as a secure encrypted service but is not approved by the US government for sharing sensitive information, and that the phones it runs on can themselves be vulnerable.

The BBC and The Guardian covered the initial disclosure and the official response. The National Security Council said the reported message thread appeared authentic and it was reviewing how an unintended number had been added. According to the BBC, the editor said he was added after receiving a connection request from an account that appeared to belong to the national security adviser.

Officials disputed descriptions of the material and whether it was classified. Those arguments should not be silently converted into either proof that no security failure occurred or a legal finding about every message. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters that nobody was texting war plans. Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Roger Wicker said his panel planned to investigate.

Leakly’s boundary is especially strict here. We report what major outlets established about the accidental inclusion and the response; we do not reproduce messages, strike details, locations of personnel or other operational material. Original magazine and wire URLs that could not be re-fetched stay unlinked.

[Confirmed]

## What happened later

The White House said the thread appeared authentic; officials disputed descriptions and classification of its contents.

## Source note

Original magazine and wire URLs that could not be re-fetched stay unlinked. This retrospective relies on The Guardian and BBC.

## Sources

## Outlet-sourced retrospective

No suitable X post was verified for this entry. No post or engagement figures have been invented.

* [The Guardian — White House inadvertently texted top-secret Yemen war plans to journalist](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/24/journalist-trump-yemen-war-chat)
* [BBC — Top US officials appeared to message a journalist Houthi strike plans](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy4v3ndg28jo)

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