Marco Rubio Weighs in on Signal War Plans Leak: 'A Big Mistake'

Secretary of State Marco Rubio weighed in Wednesday on the ongoing firestorm surrounding a Signal group chat in which Trump officials inadvertently included a journalist while discussing highly sensitive military plans.

The Context

Rubio's comments came after The Atlantic's editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, reported that national security adviser Mike Waltz accidentally added him to the Signal group in March, as officials spent several days debating whether to launch military strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.

The United States has designated the Houthis a foreign terrorist organization. The militant group has been launching attacks on Western commercial vessels in the Red Sea for more than a year.

The group chat had top national security and Cabinet-level officials, including Rubio, Waltz, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA director John Ratcliffe and others.

Goldberg wrote on Monday that the conversation eventually culminated in Hegseth sharing highly sensitive and classified details about the Pentagon's plan to carry out the strikes against the Houthis.

What To Know

Rubio weighed in on the controversy during a press conference with Jamaica's Prime Minister, Andrew Holness.

The secretary of state acknowledged it was a "big mistake" to accidentally include The Atlantic's editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg in the chat. Rubio made the comment in response to a question from a reporter about Nebraska Representative Don Bacon's claim that the White House "is in denial that this was not classified or sensitive data."

"They should just own up to it and preserve credibility," Bacon said.

Rubio said Wednesday that the purpose of the Signal chat, titled "Houthi PC small group," was to set up how top national security officials would coordinate on the March 15 strike.

"Obviously, someone made a mistake. Someone made a big mistake and added a journalist," Rubio conceded. "Nothing against journalists, but you're not supposed to be on that thing."

The secretary of state also distanced himself from the sensitive discussions that were had on the chat, noting that he only dropped two messages: one of them identified who his point of contact was at the State Department and the second congratulated the team's efforts after the strikes were carried out.

"I've been assured by the Pentagon and everyone involved that none of the information that was on there ... at any point threatened the operation or the lives of our service members," Rubio added.

Regarding whether or not the information was classified, Rubio responded: "Well, the Pentagon says it was not."

The Atlantic published screenshots of the full message thread on Wednesday morning, in which Hegseth detailed specifics about the weapon systems that would be used, the timing of the strikes and the precise attack sequencing.

Hegseth and the White House have responded to The Atlantic's reporting by attacking Goldberg's credibility and zeroing in on the semantics. They have not denied the veracity of the reporting or the contents of the Signal chat. A spokesperson for the National Security Council also confirmed the message chain appeared to be "authentic."

"So, let's me get this straight. The Atlantic released the so-called 'war plans' and those 'plans' include: No names. No targets. No locations. No units. No routes. No sources. No methods. And no classified information," Hegseth wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "Those are some really s***** war plans. This only proves one thing: Jeff Goldberg has never seen a war plan or an 'attack plan' (as he now calls it). Not even close."

"We will continue to do our job, while the media does what it does best: peddle hoaxes," Hegseth added.

Waltz, who initially added Goldberg to the group chat, also downplayed the seriousness of the leak and said Tuesday that he had "never met, don't know, never communicated with" Goldberg.

He later told Fox News' Laura Ingraham that he takes "full responsibility" for the blunder, adding, "I built the group. My job is to make sure everything's coordinated."

Waltz also continued launching ad hominem attacks against Goldberg, saying that he "wouldn't know him if I bumped into him or saw him in a police lineup," but added that Goldberg is "the bottom scum of journalists."

What People Are Saying

Leon Panetta, former CIA director and defense secretary under Obama, told CNN on Monday: "It's obviously a very serious mistake on the part of whoever included Goldberg in this highly classified chain-of-command messaging that went on that involved war plans. To have had somebody from The Atlantic on that chain, without question, was a serious mistake. And I hope the White House takes this seriously because the last thing you want to do when you're talking about war plans is to have a serious leak like this that could undermine the war plans but also jeopardize lives. So, I hope they take this seriously."

Panetta added that the Trump administration should conduct a "full investigation as to who included this name on that chain involving the highest officials in national security, ... how the name of a journalist was added to that list. This is just a serious blunder and not only could violate the espionage laws, but more importantly, could undermine our national security."

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X: "The Atlantic has conceded: these were NOT 'war plans.' This entire story was another hoax written by a Trump-hater who is well-known for his sensationalist spin."

Goldberg dismissed Leavitt's commentary, telling MSNBC on Wednesday: "I don't even know what that means. I mean, the plain language in the text is—what are they arguing? That an attack is different than a war?"

What Happens Next

Waltz said Tuesday that the Trump administration—including Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency—is investigating how the mistake happened in the first place.

President Donald Trump, for his part, publicly backed Waltz and the White House said it has full confidence in its national security team.