Did You Notice What Vanished From The Atlantic's Narrative About the Hegseth Signal Story?

The Atlantic felt their story was dying. The Trump administration said no classified war plans were discussed in the Signal chat story that’s captured the hyper-regional confines of liberal America. It looks like a nothing burger vis-à-vis a severe breach in classified information, though still an unforced error on behalf of top officials. To recap, The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg was accidentally added to a group chat on the encrypted messenger app, which was pre-downloaded on the devices of those involved in the chat, which included CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, and Vice President JD Vance.

It’s very clear Goldberg oversold what he had. But one thing in particular really stands out.

Remember when he was attacking Ratcliffe for blowing the cover for a CIA agent? Turns out Ratcliffe was simply naming his chief of staff. https://t.co/BUGbX6gZDZ
— JD Vance (@JDVance) March 26, 2025

The hook was that classified war plans were discussed, and Mr. Ratcliffe shot down a claim. There was nothing classified, Jeff, so release the texts. At first, he decided not to do it, simply claiming his detractors were wrong—a typical response when fake news is knowingly peddled.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe just destroyed The Atlantic for blatantly making things up.

“The reporter indicated that I had released the name of another country – of an undercover CIA operative.”

“In fact, I released the name of my chief of staff who is not operating… pic.twitter.com/jOEmj3KCQ2
— Media Lies (@MediasLies) March 26, 2025

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.

Those are some really shitty war plans.

This only proves…
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) March 26, 2025

So, The Atlantic opted to publish the text they felt was classified, though it wasn’t, and two things were clear: these aren’t war plans, and that narrative has conspicuously vanished.

Notice the narrative shift.

First it was “top secret”, then it was “classified”, now it’s “sensitive” pic.twitter.com/6AOincoKYO
— Mostly Peaceful Memes (@MostlyPeacefull) March 26, 2025

Ok so the Atlantic released what they call the “war plans”—they’re depending on people not knowing (or caring) what this is, but to refer to it that way is a stretch. There’s nothing specific here, other than times at which events will occur. A leak of this kind could alert the… pic.twitter.com/dCss9wBby0
— David Reaboi, Late Republic Nonsense (@davereaboi) March 26, 2025

Re: Signalgate:

—people who hate Trump are cynically trying to manufacture Valerie Plame 2.0 (which itself was a bullshit scandal);

—people who love Trump are flailing and attacking Goldberg (a piece of trash lib, but one behaved like a normal reporter here);

—very few…
— David Reaboi, Late Republic Nonsense (@davereaboi) March 26, 2025

The Atlantic beclowns itself as they concede— by releasing this— that no “war planning” was going on as they had falsely alleged.

Sounds like some terrorists had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. https://t.co/bTtKNzy55T
— Steven Cheung (@StevenCheung47) March 26, 2025

Now, this isn’t a one-sided deal. Again, this was a brutal, unforced error, adding a known Trump-hater to this chat. This administration dodged a significant bullet and was lucky that no classified information was disclosed. Then again, in the chats, all the principals are aware of the “high side” lines of communications, secure platforms where deeper discussions could occur.

The Atlantic has already abandoned their bullshit “war plans” narrative, and in releasing the full chat , they concede they LIED to perpetuate yet ANOTHER hoax on the American people.

What scumbags! pic.twitter.com/RHSEGici2L
— Taylor Budowich (@Taylor47) March 26, 2025

They backpedaled the whole “war plans” thing really really fast…. pic.twitter.com/LFroFp2fHI
— DOD Rapid Response (@DODResponse) March 26, 2025

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. pic.twitter.com/atGrDd2ymr
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) March 26, 2025

The Atlantic has already abandoned their bullshit “war plans” narrative, and in releasing the full chat , they concede they LIED to perpetuate yet ANOTHER hoax on the American people.

What scumbags!
— Taylor Budowich (@Taylor47) March 26, 2025

The chats are real, so it’s not a hoax, but the ‘they disclosed classified war plans’ narrative is fake news and hyper-sensationalized. The White House did well to notice how the words “war plans” got stealth edited in the new disclosures, pointing to a tacit acknowledgement that the publication got ahead of their skis on this one, which is a common trait at The Atlantic:

Many things can be true at once. 1) Jeffrey Goldberg is a clear Trump hater. 2) Goldberg has published sensationalized accounts in the past that have been disputed by people with first-hand knowledge. 3) He was added to this chat and has receipts, so it’s not a hoax. https://t.co/WmDA4LEsxi
— Tom Bevan (@TomBevanRCP) March 26, 2025

There will be more analysis of Trump’s successful strike on the Houthis than there was of Biden’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan.
— Brent Scher (@BrentScher) March 26, 2025

***

At some point we’re going to discover that the true origination of all this was to prevent the Trump administration from using Signal because the Intelligence Community can’t monitor their communications.
— Jeff Carlson (@themarketswork) March 26, 2025

Editor's Note: This leaked Signal chat is a non-scandal, and we need to focus on the real issues, not the Regime Media and Democrats' invented outrage.

Help us tell the truth about the Trump administration by joining Townhall VIP. Use promo code FIGHT at checkout to get 60% off.