Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton expressed surprise about the incident. In an X post, she wrote, “You have got to be kidding me” and shared an eyes emoji along with The Atlantic
article.
???? You have got to be kidding me. pic.twitter.com/bnNG4dGSpI
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 24, 2025
Speaking on the matter, President Donald Trump said he knew nothing about the article published by The Atlantic. “I don’t know anything about it, I’m not a big fan of The Atlantic. To me it’s a magazine that’s going out of business … but I know nothing about it,” he said and asked the reporter to clarify about the article.
When the reporter clarified that Trump’s Cabinet used the messaging app Signal to coordinate the strike, Trump responded, “Well it couldn’t have been very effective because the attack was very effective … I don’t know anything about it, you’re telling me about it for the first time.”
In a conversation with The Guardian, California Congressman Ro Khanna said, “It has made us look weak to our adversaries. We need to take cybersecurity far more seriously and I look forward to leading on that.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called it one of the most stunning breaches and urged Republicans to seek an investigation. “This debacle requires a full investigation into how this happened, the damage it created, and how we can avoid it in the future. If our nation’s military secrets are being peddled around over insecure text chains, we need to know that at once. We need to put a stop to it immediately,” the Democrat said.
When questioned by a reporter about the chat, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said that “nobody was texting war plans” and slammed The Atlantic editor Goldberg as a “deceitful and highly discredited so-called journalist” who “peddles hoaxes.”
Rhode Island senator Jack Reed said the incident represented “one of the most egregious failures of operational security and common sense” he has ever seen.
“Military operations need to be handled with utmost discretion, using approved, secure lines of communication, because American lives are on the line. The carelessness shown by President Trump’s cabinet is stunning and dangerous. I will be seeking answers from the administration immediately,” Reed added.
Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi said, “It’s definitely a concern, and it appears that mistakes were made.” He said, “There are likely to be classified briefings about this soon,” adding his committee would ‘absolutely’ look into it.
Democratic Senator Jacky Rosen of Nevada called the breach “a dangerous level of incompetence and an inexcusable failure.” Delaware senator Chris Coons also slammed the incident as ‘a shocking breach’ and urged an investigation into the matter.
Republican representatives Don Bacon of Nebraska and Mike Lawler of New York criticised the usage of an encrypted texting app to discuss war plans. Bacon said, “This can get our troops killed. Secure phones are mandatory for these kinds of communications. Russia and China are definitely monitoring their unclassified phones hoping they share info like this.”
Lawler said that sensitive information should not be transferred over unprotected networks “and certainly not to those without security clearances, including reporters. Period. Safeguards must be put in place to ensure this never happens again.”
New York representative Pat Ryan called for a hearing and labelled the incident as ‘FUBAR’. “Only one word for this: FUBAR,” Ryan wrote in a post on X, adding, “If House Republicans won’t hold a hearing on how this happened IMMEDIATELY, I’ll do it my damn self.”
Only one word for this: FUBAR.
If House Republicans won’t hold a hearing on how this happened IMMEDIATELY, I’ll do it my damn self. pic.twitter.com/uGihDr5xZa— Pat Ryan ???????? (@PatRyanUC) March 24, 2025
According to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, there should ‘absolutely’ be a congressional investigation “so that we can understand what happened, why it happened, and how we prevent this type of national security breach from ever happening again.”
Elon Musk, the head of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), also reacted to the matter by posting a joke by The Babylon Bee. On X, Musk wrote, “Best place to hide a dead body is page 2 of The Atlantic magazine because no one ever goes there.”
Best place to hide a dead body is page 2 of The Atlantic magazine, because no one ever goes there https://t.co/10A01hObHO
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 24, 2025
