Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
The Nation: Group Chat War Plans Provide a Window Into Trump's Mafia State
The Nation - (archived: https://archive.ph/hAoEZ ) Group Chat War Plans Provide a Window Into Trump’s Mafia State
American foreign policy is now all about incompetent shakedowns and cover-ups.
Jeet Heer
Politics / March 25, 2025
No reasonable person can begrudge Hillary Clinton her belated moment of triumphant vindication. In 2016, Clinton’s reputation was repeatedly dragged through the mud by the media and by Republicans over a puffed-up scandal over her use of a private e-mail server while conducting public business as secretary of state. The claim of anti-Clintonites was that this breach of security protocol rendered her unfit for the presidency—even when running against so flawed a candidate as Donald Trump.
But now Trump’s inner circle has been caught in its own breach of security that is immeasurably worse than anything Clinton had ever plausibly been accused of. On Monday, Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg revealed that between March 11 and March 15 he had been—likely by mistake—admitted into a group chat on Signal where high-ranking officials of the Trump administration planned a military attack on Yemen. Among the participants to the group chat were Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, national security adviser Michael Waltz, and presidential adviser Stephen Miller. In this chat they planned the war and discussed relationships with allies.
Goldberg’s bombshell reporting contained numerous scandals. Wars are not meant to be planned on group chats—certainly not on chats where it was easy for a reporter to accidentally eavesdrop. Hillary Clinton responded to the news with sly aplomb, posting emojis showing startled eyes and writing, “You have got to be kidding me.”
But beyond the security breach, which certainly provides ample grounds for Democrats to attack the Trump administration, the group chat offers a remarkable window into the inner workings of the Trump administration. The security breach itself is one of the biggest intelligence fiascos in American history—but there’s a case to be made that the substance of the group chat is even worse.
/snip
American foreign policy is now all about incompetent shakedowns and cover-ups.
Jeet Heer
Politics / March 25, 2025
No reasonable person can begrudge Hillary Clinton her belated moment of triumphant vindication. In 2016, Clinton’s reputation was repeatedly dragged through the mud by the media and by Republicans over a puffed-up scandal over her use of a private e-mail server while conducting public business as secretary of state. The claim of anti-Clintonites was that this breach of security protocol rendered her unfit for the presidency—even when running against so flawed a candidate as Donald Trump.
But now Trump’s inner circle has been caught in its own breach of security that is immeasurably worse than anything Clinton had ever plausibly been accused of. On Monday, Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg revealed that between March 11 and March 15 he had been—likely by mistake—admitted into a group chat on Signal where high-ranking officials of the Trump administration planned a military attack on Yemen. Among the participants to the group chat were Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, national security adviser Michael Waltz, and presidential adviser Stephen Miller. In this chat they planned the war and discussed relationships with allies.
Goldberg’s bombshell reporting contained numerous scandals. Wars are not meant to be planned on group chats—certainly not on chats where it was easy for a reporter to accidentally eavesdrop. Hillary Clinton responded to the news with sly aplomb, posting emojis showing startled eyes and writing, “You have got to be kidding me.”
But beyond the security breach, which certainly provides ample grounds for Democrats to attack the Trump administration, the group chat offers a remarkable window into the inner workings of the Trump administration. The security breach itself is one of the biggest intelligence fiascos in American history—but there’s a case to be made that the substance of the group chat is even worse.
/snip
1 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
