A report released Monday by The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief has revealed how he accidentally joined a group chat with high-level Trump administration officials, who were discussing military plans to bomb Yemen. The disclosure has sparked national attention.
Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, shared a firsthand account of how he was added to a group titled “Houthi PC small group” on the encrypted messaging app Signal. Initially, he suspected the group could be a hoax, with people pretending to be figures like Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and Trump’s national security advisor Mike Waltz, in an attempt to deceive him.
However, Hegseth detailed the military operation targeting the Houthis in Yemen just hours before it took place on March 15.
Trump defended his national security team on Tuesday, calling the situation “the only glitch in two months, and it turned out not to be a serious one.”
This incident has raised legal concerns regarding the use of publicly available apps to share sensitive or classified information. Questions are also being asked about whether the app’s disappearing messages violate federal record-keeping laws.
Despite the seriousness of the matter, the internet has responded with humor, turning the incident into a source of memes and jokes. This reaction is a common response to serious situations, much like how the internet responded during the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters.
Experts believe humor can serve as an effective coping mechanism in tough times. A 2021 study on meme consumption during the pandemic showed that viewing memes can help reduce stress, foster positive emotions, and build confidence in facing challenges. Robin Nabi, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, explained that humor helps people reframe events in a way that reduces anxiety by focusing on the absurdity of a situation rather than the threat itself.
While some Democrats have raised concerns about national security, others are having fun with the incident. One user wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “Renaming my family group chat ‘secret war plans’ because someone is always sending something stupid in there.” Others joked about the awkwardness of texting the wrong person, with one commenter imagining the shock of seeing “Jeffrey Goldberg has left the chat.”
Humor also centered around the scam text message phenomenon, with one user joking, “I woke up this morning to texts from Pete Hegseth warning me I had unpaid EZ Pass tolls,” shared on Bluesky.
As the discussion around the incident continued, people with similar names to Goldberg became caught in the crossfire. Jonah Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Dispatch, was forced to clarify on X that he was not the same person as Jeffrey Goldberg. Another user mistakenly thought the situation was about Jeff Goldblum, the actor known for his role in Wicked.
Despite the mix-ups, many praised Jeffrey Goldberg for his quick reporting and his decision to leave the group chat once he realized it was likely legitimate. Washington D.C.-based reporter Jasmine Wright commented, “Jeff Goldberg better than me tho bc I would have stayed on that chain until Jan 2029.”
