In a revelation that stunned both security experts and seasoned spin doctors, top US officials – including the Vice-President and Defence Secretary – have been caught discussing classified military operations in an unofficial Signal chat group, unwittingly leaking sensitive details to a journalist.
The group, intended for high-level chatter among Trump’s closest advisers, included none other than The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg – who was added to the group by none other than national security adviser Mike Waltz.
The chat laid bare key operational specifics surrounding the strikes on Yemen’s Houthi rebels – Washington’s most aggressive military action since President Trump swaggered back into the White House. That such disclosures occurred not in a secure briefing room, but on a smartphone app more associated with crypto bros and millennial activists, marks a seismic failure in message control.
Full-blown reputational implosion
This isn’t just a security breach – it’s a full-blown reputational implosion. It smacks of the same fatal hubris that saw Dominic Cummings’ Barnard Castle jaunt unravel No.10, or Matt Hancock’s pandemic pillow talk splash across front pages. The optics are grotesque: America caught talking military strategy like it’s gossip.
Worse still, Trump’s renewed posture as Commander-in-Chief, flexing on global stages and scolding Europe for “freeloading,” is undercut by his own house’s failure to lock the back door. Comms discipline is gone. The message is in chaos.
In the business of influence, perception is power. And right now, Team Trump is bleeding both.
