A new document has revealed the humiliating moment Pete Hegseth was alerted to his Signalgate mistake at the start of MAGA 2.0.
A screenshot of a group chat discussing strikes against 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 informed when Goldberg left the group.
Washington Post FOIA Director Nate Jones obtained the screenshot and shared it on
After the initials “TG,” it is believed to have been then-DNI Director Tulsi Gabbard, who texted “great work and effects!” in response to news of successful strikes, the screenshot shows that Goldberg left the chat.
“Jeff Goldberg has left the group,” a notification reads.
Goldberg revealed in March 2025 that then-National Security Advisor Michael Waltz added him to a “Houthi PC small group” chat on Signal, which then discussed war plans for an attack on Houthi targets in Yemen, including troop movements that could have put military lives at risk if such information had been made public.
Waltz was eventually kicked out of the president’s cabinet, but the president did not punish any of the other participants in the chat. Those reportedly participating in the chat include Hegseth, who provided updates; Vance, who questioned whether the attacks were necessary; Gabbard, who did not oppose the strikes although he was openly against the 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, saying Goldberg sensationalized what he saw in the chat and that none of the texts sent, even those containing intricate details about the target and timing of a military strike, contained classified information.
It has since been revealed that members of Trump’s cabinet discussed official business in more than a dozen Signal group chats, despite being ordered 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, although Trump said 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-ranking government official applauding the bombing of a country and the killing of individuals during a conversation on Signal, and then seeing, ‘Jeff Goldberg left the group,'” he wrote on X.
Gn world
