The fallout from the Signal breach begins

March 25, 2025 • In the 24 hours since a bombshell Atlantic article, senators have grilled Trump administration intelligence officials — but there are no signs yet that anyone involved will face any repercussions. The article, by Jeffrey Goldberg, details how he was inadvertently added to a chat on Signal, the encrypted messaging app, where key administration figures were planning a U.S. bombing operation in Yemen.

• Goldberg did not share what he said could be damaging elements of the communications sent to him, including what he called "operational details of forthcoming strikes."  

• Signal is put under a spotlight

• Messages on Signal are encrypted — journalists at NPR and other outlets use it as a way to maintain privacy. The first Trump administration targeted such apps five years ago, complaining that their messages couldn't be decrypted even by law enforcement agencies with a warrant.

• But experts say sensitive government communications normally occur via official devices and through elaborate security measures, not by using open-source software offered by a nonprofit.  

• National

• Days after the Signal leak, the Pentagon warned that the app was the target of hackers

• The Principals Committee chat's 18 members included Vice President Vance, White House Chief of
  Staff Susie Wiles and "S M," an apparent reference to Trump adviser Stephen Miller. Also in the group: CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, both of whom were questioned about the breach during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Tuesday.  

• "Those agencies are absolutely fanatical about secure communications," NPR's Myre says of the CIA and DNI. "Yet based on Goldberg's account, no senior national security official raised concerns about sharing war plans on Signal."  

• Last week, a Pentagon-wide email went out warning staff about a vulnerability in the messaging app, according to NPR's Tom Bowman. The notice cited risks from "Russian professional hacking groups" working to spy on encrypted communications. The notice was apparently sent days after Goldberg told Waltz that he had somehow been added to the PC group, and left the chat.    

• The Pentagon warning was related to phishing attacks, not to any issue in Signal's "core technology," said Jun Harada, a Signal vice president, in a statement. "Once we learned that Signal users were being targeted, and how they were being targeted, we introduced additional safeguards and in-app warnings to help protect people from falling victim to phishing attacks," Harada said.

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If those options aren't available, top officials can use a secure video teleconference system.

"This is a top secret network that beams them into the White House Situation Room," Price says, adding that if a member is traveling, a national security team accompanies them to set up a secure tent and other equipment to protect their communications.

Former Trump official 'dumbfounded' that national security team disclosed war plans on Signal

But this month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared details about targets and weapons via the Signal app hours before the March 15 U.S. attack, according to Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic.

Goldberg says he saw the plans days after being added to a Signal chat called "Houthi PC small group" by a user named Michael Waltz, the name of President Trump's national security adviser. "It was a chilling thing to realize that I've inadvertently discovered a massive security breach in the national security system of the United States," Goldberg told NPR'