It’s Tuesday…
President Shitshow’s public schedule for…
| Tuesday, March 25 2025 |
| 9:00 AM In-Town Pool Call Time In-Town Pool |
| 12:30 PM The President and the Vice President have lunch Private Dining Room Closed Press |
| 2:00 PM The President signs Executive Orders Oval Office Closed Press |
According to the Federal Register President Shitshow has issued 97 Executive Orders Since 01/20/2025. The numbers do not include today’s EO’s…
Signal is Not for War Chats…
As you know The Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeff Goldberg published a story that alleged/confirmed that members of our intelligence community used the Signal app to discuss war plans.
The story; The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans (gift link shared by Aaron Rupar via Twitter).
You cannot make this shit up. Sharing this jaw-dropping story with a gift link — give it a read. https://t.co/xoi2Fre1Bl
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 24, 2025
Today, we all understand the story, so I’m going to try and layout the timeline as seen in the article…
You know me, I love me some charts; this isn’t going to be in chart form…
March 11th, 2025; Goldberg received a connection request on Signal from a user that said they were Michael Waltz.
- On Tuesday, March 11, I received a connection request on Signal from a user identified as Michael Waltz. Signal is an open-source encrypted messaging service popular with journalists and others who seek more privacy than other text-messaging services are capable of delivering. I assumed that the Michael Waltz in question was President Donald Trump’s national security adviser. I did not assume, however, that the request was from the actual Michael Waltz. I have met him in the past, and though I didn’t find it particularly strange that he might be reaching out to me, I did think it somewhat unusual, given the Trump administration’s contentious relationship with journalists—and Trump’s periodic fixation on me specifically. It immediately crossed my mind that someone could be masquerading as Waltz in order to somehow entrap me. It is not at all uncommon these days for nefarious actors to try to induce journalists to share information that could be used against them.
He accepted in the hopes that this wasn’t a set-up and it really was (it was) the National Security Advisor Michael Waltz.
Thursday, March 13th @4:28 PM D.C., time Goldberg received notice that he’d be included in a Signal chat group called “Houthi PC small group”.
- Two days later—Thursday—at 4:28 p.m., I received a notice that I was to be included in a Signal chat group. It was called the “Houthi PC small group.” A message to the group, from “Michael Waltz,” read as follows: “Team – establishing a principles [sic] group for coordination on Houthis, particularly for over the next 72 hours. My deputy Alex Wong is pulling together a tiger team at deputies/agency Chief of Staff level following up from the meeting in the Sit Room this morning for action items and will be sending that out later this evening.” The message continued, “Pls provide the best staff POC from your team for us to coordinate with over the next couple days and over the weekend. Thx.”
Goldberg then explains:
One minute later, a person identified only as “MAR”—the secretary of state is Marco Antonio Rubio—wrote, “Mike Needham for State,” apparently designating the current counselor of the State Department as his representative. At that same moment, a Signal user identified as “JD Vance” wrote, “Andy baker for VP.” One minute after that, “TG” (presumably Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, or someone masquerading as her) wrote, “Joe Kent for DNI.” Nine minutes later, “Scott B”—apparently Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, or someone spoofing his identity, wrote, “Dan Katz for Treasury.” At 4:53 p.m., a user called “Pete Hegseth” wrote, “Dan Caldwell for DoD.” And at 6:34 p.m., “Brian” wrote “Brian McCormack for NSC.” One more person responded: “John Ratcliffe” wrote at 5:24 p.m. with the name of a CIA official to be included in the group. I am not publishing that name, because that person is an active intelligence officer.
The principals had apparently assembled. In all, 18 individuals were listed as members of this group, including various National Security Council officials; Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s Middle East and Ukraine negotiator; Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff; and someone identified only as “S M,” which I took to stand for Stephen Miller. I appeared on my own screen only as “JG.”
The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans (gift link shared by Aaron Rupar via Twitter). 03/24/2025.
That was the end of the Thursday text chain. Goldberg still not sure if this was legit asked other people around him. He expressed doubt it was real; he really does express concern that is was all part of some disinformation campaign.
After receiving the Waltz text related to the “Houthi PC small group,” I consulted a number of colleagues. We discussed the possibility that these texts were part of a disinformation campaign, initiated by either a foreign intelligence service or, more likely, a media-gadfly organization, the sort of group that attempts to place journalists in embarrassing positions, and sometimes succeeds. I had very strong doubts that this text group was real, because I could not believe that the national-security leadership of the United States would communicate on Signal about imminent war plans. I also could not believe that the national security adviser to the president would be so reckless as to include the editor in chief of The Atlantic in such discussions with senior U.S. officials, up to and including the vice president.
The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans (gift link shared by Aaron Rupar via Twitter). 03/24/2025.
March 14th, @8:05 AM D.C., time, Vice President JD Vance bashes Europe private and goes against President Shitshow.
- At 8:05 a.m. on Friday, March 14, “Michael Waltz” texted the group: “Team, you should have a statement of conclusions with taskings per the Presidents guidance this morning in your high side inboxes.” (High side, in government parlance, refers to classified computer and communications systems.) “State and DOD, we developed suggested notification lists for regional Allies and partners. Joint Staff is sending this am a more specific sequence of events in the coming days and we will work w DOD to ensure COS, OVP and POTUS are briefed.”
- At this point, a fascinating policy discussion commenced. The account labeled “JD Vance” responded at 8:16: “Team, I am out for the day doing an economic event in Michigan. But I think we are making a mistake.” (Vance was indeed in Michigan that day.) The Vance account goes on to state, “3 percent of US trade runs through the suez. 40 percent of European trade does. There is a real risk that the public doesn’t understand this or why it’s necessary. The strongest reason to do this is, as POTUS said, to send a message.”
- The Vance account then goes on to make a noteworthy statement, considering that the vice president has not deviated publicly from Trump’s position on virtually any issue. “I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now. There’s a further risk that we see a moderate to severe spike in oil prices. I am willing to support the consensus of the team and keep these concerns to myself. But there is a strong argument for delaying this a month, doing the messaging work on why this matters, seeing where the economy is, etc.”
I’m gonna pause the timeline here, and share the statement provided to The Atlantic from a spokesperson for JD Vance:
William Martin, a spokesperson for Vance, said that despite the impression created by the texts, the vice president is fully aligned with the president. “The Vice President’s first priority is always making sure that the President’s advisers are adequately briefing him on the substance of their internal deliberations,” he said. “Vice President Vance unequivocally supports this administration’s foreign policy. The President and the Vice President have had subsequent conversations about this matter and are in complete agreement.”
The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans (gift link shared by Aaron Rupar via Twitter). 03/24/2025.
After all the most important thing when one is caught using Signal to discuss war plans is to make sure President Shitshow doesn’t get mad at you for having an opinion that doesn’t dick ride him. I mean, I know that’s not the most important part of this story, but if something happens to President Shitshow, Vance takes his place.
Goldberg still at this point is not sure this is real life. That somehow, he was invited into this group text chain by Watlz, and seeing in real time, how war plans came to be.
March 15th, 11:44 AM D.C., time Goldberg realizes this shit is real.
- At 11:44 a.m., the account labeled “Pete Hegseth” posted in Signal a “TEAM UPDATE.” I will not quote from this update, or from certain other subsequent texts. The information contained in them, if they had been read by an adversary of the United States, could conceivably have been used to harm American military and intelligence personnel, particularly in the broader Middle East, Central Command’s area of responsibility. What I will say, in order to illustrate the shocking recklessness of this Signal conversation, is that the Hegseth post contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing.
According to the lengthy Hegseth text, the first detonations in Yemen would be felt two hours hence, at 1:45 p.m. eastern time. So I waited in my car in a supermarket parking lot. If this Signal chat was real, I reasoned, Houthi targets would soon be bombed. At about 1:55, I checked X and searched Yemen. Explosions were then being heard across Sanaa, the capital city.
I went back to the Signal channel. At 1:48, “Michael Waltz” had provided the group an update. Again, I won’t quote from this text, except to note that he described the operation as an “amazing job.” A few minutes later, “John Ratcliffe” wrote, “A good start.” Not long after, Waltz responded with three emoji: a fist, an American flag, and fire. Others soon joined in, including “MAR,” who wrote, “Good Job Pete and your team!!,” and “Susie Wiles,” who texted, “Kudos to all – most particularly those in theater and CENTCOM! Really great. God bless.” “Steve Witkoff” responded with five emoji: two hands-praying, a flexed bicep, and two American flags. “TG” responded, “Great work and effects!” The after-action discussion included assessments of damage done, including the likely death of a specific individual. The Houthi-run Yemeni health ministry reported that at least 53 people were killed in the strikes, a number that has not been independently verified.
The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans (gift link shared by Aaron Rupar via Twitter). 03/24/2025.
The screen grab…
He watched Waltz on a Sunday show, and based on what was said, he concluded the chat was real and left the group.
The Signal chat group, I concluded, was almost certainly real. Having come to this realization, one that seemed nearly impossible only hours before, I removed myself from the Signal group, understanding that this would trigger an automatic notification to the group’s creator, “Michael Waltz,” that I had left. No one in the chat had seemed to notice that I was there. And I received no subsequent questions about why I left—or, more to the point, who I was.
The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans (gift link shared by Aaron Rupar via Twitter). 03/24/2025.
Before publishing the story on Monday (yes, that really was just yesterday), he reached out, because apparently even him leaving the group didn’t cause anyone to wonder who the hell this JG guy was and how come he left…
Brian Hughes, the spokesman for the National Security Council, responded two hours later, confirming the veracity of the Signal group. “This appears to be an authentic message chain, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain,” Hughes wrote. “The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials. The ongoing success of the Houthi operation demonstrates that there were no threats to troops or national security.”
The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans (gift link shared by Aaron Rupar via Twitter). 03/24/2025.
One part of the story, I decided to share here, outside the timeline is this, as pointed out by our lovely friend Gretchen R in the comments:
From March 14th:
- At this point, the previously silent “S M” joined the conversation. “As I heard it, the president was clear: green light, but we soon make clear to Egypt and Europe what we expect in return. We also need to figure out how to enforce such a requirement. EG, if Europe doesn’t remunerate, then what? If the US successfully restores freedom of navigation at great cost there needs to be some further economic gain extracted in return.”
This was the only other included screen grab:
It’s the mob guys, that’s how President Shitshow views the government. Our government should be run like a criminal enterprise that our help is conditional on what he and he alone can get from it.
I mean read the words “but we soon make clear to Egypt and Europe what we expect in return” combined with “we also need to figure out how to enforce such a requirement. EG, if the Europe doesn’t remunerate, then what?”
Then what indeed.
Aaron Rupar did me a solid though he doesn’t know it, by posting a supercut of today’s hearing (it had been scheduled before SignalGate happened) where Rattfuck and Gabbard refused to responded to legit questions regarding the story.
"This is an embarrassment!" — here's a supercut of Senate Democrats grilling a squirming Gabbard and Ratcliffe about SignalGate during today's hearing pic.twitter.com/CtyLLSQZdk
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 25, 2025
We are gonna wrap there.
This is an open thread
