After The Atlantic published the contents of a text chat among high-ranking members of the Trump administration about forthcoming airstrikes on Yemen, multiple officials involved conceded that adding a journalist to the group was a mistake.

But a closer look at the messages posted on Signal — an encrypted but unsecured commercial texting app — and at what the group’s participants were doing when they were sent, reveal broader security vulnerabilities at the highest levels of the administration.

Many of the 17 government officials in the chat did not send substantive messages or post at all. (The identity of one member is still not publicly known.) But they all became privy to the type of high-level policy divides, operational details and intelligence information that could interest foreign adversaries and undercut relations with allies.

• JD
• Vance
• Michael
• Waltz
• Pete
• Hegseth
• Marco
• Rubio
• Scott
• Bessent
• Tulsi
• Gabbard
• Stephen
• Miller
• Michael
• Needham
• John
• Ratcliffe
• Susie
• Wiles
• Steve
• Witkoff
• Joe
• Kent
• Dan
• Katz
• Alex
• Wong
• Brian
• McCormack
• Walker
• Barrett
• “Jacob”

Photos, videos, flight tracking information and metadata from the chat transcript suggest that several participants might have been engaging in sensitive communications outside secure environments or using personal devices over the course of the three-day exchange.

Here is a look at what we know of the participants’ physical locations and activities during the chat.

Michael Waltz, President Trump’s national security adviser, was in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio on March 11, holding talks with Ukrainian officials about terms for a potential cease-fire with Russia.

It was at some point during the final day of meetings that Mr. Waltz initially invited the editor in chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, to connect with him via Signal.

Mr. Goldberg, whose previous work has angered Mr. Trump, said he was initially uncertain the request was actually from the national security adviser. “It immediately crossed my mind that someone could be masquerading as Waltz in order to somehow entrap me,” he wrote, but noted that he accepted the invitation to connect.

Two days went by, according to Mr. Goldberg, with no word from Mr. Waltz.

But on March 13, around 4:30 p.m. Eastern time, he received a Signal message indicating Mr. Waltz had added him to the “Houthi PC small group.”

Since the texts were published, several chat group participants have told journalists and Congress that the group was set up merely to coordinate messaging about the upcoming airstrikes and that none of the information was classified or posed a risk to the operation, service members or national security.

However, questions have swirled around the use of Signal by government officials and, in particular, whether it is a permissible platform for sensitive or even classified information.

In congressional hearings, John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. director, called Signal an “appropriate channel to communicate sensitive information.” And Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, said Signal was being added to government devices after a 2024 Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency advisory directing “targeted individuals” to use encrypted apps in the wake of a major Chinese hack of U.S. mobile networks.

But a 2023 Defense Department memo said the app is explicitly “NOT authorized to access, transmit, process non-public” information.

Federal employees are typically trained to communicate sensitive information only to those who need to know; to use secure devices and channels; and, in many cases, to physically remain inside electronically protected facilities, called SCIFs. In many cases, those who have violated these protocols — whether intentionally or accidentally — have faced severe punishments, including criminal prosecutions.

The Trump administration has amped up efforts to crack down on unauthorized disclosures, including inadvertent leaks to journalists. Attorney General Pam Bondi has suggested the Justice Department is unlikely to open a criminal investigation into the Signal chat disclosure.

Mr. Waltz said he created the group to follow up on earlier conversations in the Situation Room for principals — top administration officials and their chiefs of staff — and asked each to designate a “point of contact” for coordinating in the lead-up to the airstrikes.

Michael WaltzTeam – establishing a principles 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.

Pls provide the best staff POC from your team for us to coordinate with over the next couple days and over the weekend. Thx.

4:28 p.m.

At the time, Mr. Waltz, along with several members of the chat group, had just finished a working lunch at the White House. Photographs show that he, along with Mr. Vance, Mr. Hegseth and Mr. Rubio’s deputy Mike Needham, flanked Mr. Trump during amicable meetings with the leadership of NATO.

Also pictured at the White House earlier that day was another chat participant, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, doing television interviews.

But several chat participants were traveling abroad.

Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, spent the day in Moscow, where he met with President Vladimir Putin.

Flight tracking data shows Mr. Witkoff’s plane departed late that night and stopped in Azerbaijan on his way back to the U.S. But after the texts were made public, Mr. Witkoff posted on social media that he did not have access to personal devices during his trip, suggesting he had been invited to the Signal chat on his personal device, which poses an increased security risk for sensitive government information.

Metadata from the chat log indicates “MAR” — Mr. Rubio, who was in Quebec for a G7 conference — had at some point joined the chat using a second Signal account. It is unclear if either account was tied to a personal or a government-issued device.

Ms. Gabbard was on a multileg trip “building strong relationships” with several Asian countries and France. Ms. Gabbard, who made only two comments in the chat, testified in front of Congress that she could not recall which country she was in during the Signal discussion.

But flight tracking data and a photo posted to social media showing Ms. Gabbard boarding the distinctive stairway of a particular U.S. military aircraft suggest that she had left Tokyo and had landed in Thailand by the time Mr. Waltz sent his message about creating the “Houthi PC small group.”

Later that morning, she took a muay Thai class with her niece at a gym on the outskirts of Bangkok.

Around 8 a.m. the next morning, Mr. Waltz sent a message to the group, flagging that its members had received information about the upcoming airstrikes via classified channels, including a “statement of conclusions with taskings per the President’s guidance,” along with “suggested notification lists for regional Allies and partners.”

Nine minutes later, Mr. Vance, who was about to board a plane with his wife for an event in Michigan, replied that he was skeptical the attack should proceed as planned.

JD VanceTeam, I am out for the day doing an economic event in Michigan. But I think we are making a mistake.

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.

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.

8:16 a.m.

Mr. Vance’s message revealed that he not only substantively disagreed with Mr. Trump, but that he believed that the president would unknowingly contradict his own messaging on Europe if he launched the attack.

The vice president’s message touched off a respectful but stark debate over the next half-hour about the wisdom of the strikes and the timing.

Joe Kent, a top aide to Ms. Gabbard, and John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. director, were the first to chime in, both suggesting that delaying the strikes would not eliminate military options. Mr. Ratcliffe also noted that the C.I.A. was “mobilizing assets” but that more time would allow them to gather better intelligence about Houthi targets. The whereabouts of Mr. Kent and Mr. Ratcliffe that morning are unknown.

Joe KentThere is nothing time sensitive driving the time line. We’ll have the exact same options in a month.

The Israelis will likely take strikes & therefore ask us for more to replenish whatever they use against the Houthis. But that’s a minor factor.

I will send you the unclass data we pulled on BAM shipping.

8:22 a.m.

John RatcliffeFrom CIA perspective, we are mobilizing assets to support now but a delay would not negatively impact us and additional time would be used to identify better starting points for coverage on Houthi leadership

8:26 a.m.

But Mr. Hegseth pushed back, as did Mr. Waltz, who then added “S M” to the chat group: Mr. Trump’s homeland security adviser, Stephen Miller.

Michael WaltzAs we stated in the in the first PC we have a fundamental decision of allowing the sea lanes to remain closed or to re-open them now or later, we are the only ones with the capability unfortunately.

From a messaging standpoint we absolutely ad this to of horribles on why the Europeans must invest in their defense.

8:42 a.m.

JD Vance@Pete Hegseth if you think we should do it let’s go.

I just hate bailing Europe out again.

8:45 a.m.

JD VanceLet’s just make sure our messaging is tight here. And if there are things we can do upfront to minimize risk to Saudi oil facilities we should do it.

8:46 a.m.

Pete HegsethVP: I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC.

But Mike is correct, we are the only ones on the planet (on our side of the ledger) who can do this. Nobody else even close. Question is timing. I feel like now is as good a time as any, given POTUS directive to reopen shipping lanes. I think we should go; but POTUS still retains 24 hours of decision space.

8:49 a.m.

S MAs 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 renumerate, then what? If the US successfully restores freedom of navigation at great cost there needs to be some further economic gain extracted in return.

9:35 a.m.

As members of the group discussed “European freeloading,” Mr. Rubio, who was not posting messages, was in Quebec meeting with the Italian foreign minister, discussing the “importance of the strong and enduring U.S.-Italy partnership,” according to a State Department readout. Among the G7 meetings Mr. Rubio and several European officials attended were sessions about “Maritime Security and Prosperity” and the “G7’s Role in the Middle East.”

Ms. Gabbard, who was across the globe in Thailand that day, posted a thread on X announcing a crackdown on unauthorized leaks and disclosures by government employees. Her final post notes, “Leaks have become commonplace with no investigation or accountability. That ends now. We know of and are aggressively pursuing recent leakers from within the Intelligence Community and will hold them accountable.”

The New York Times could not confirm where the other members of the Signal chat were at this time or what they were doing.

At 11:44 a.m. on March 15, Mr. Hegseth posted highly unusual information for an unsecured communication channel, detailing operational timing, aircraft and targeting intelligence for the forthcoming strikes. Had it been disclosed publicly prior to the strikes, the information could have risked thwarting the mission and endangering U.S. service members.

Pete HegsethTEAM UPDATE:

TIME NOW (1144et): Weather is FAVORABLE. Just CONFIRMED w/CENTCOM we are a GO for mission launch.

1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package)

1345: “Trigger Based” F-18 1st Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME) – also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s)

1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package)

1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier “Trigger Based” targets)

1536: F-18 2nd Strike Starts – also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched.

MORE TO FOLLOW (per timeline)

We are currently clean on OPSEC.

Godspeed to our Warriors.

11:44 a.m.

Mr. Hegseth’s mention of OPSEC, or operational security, suggested he was aware of the need for secrecy.

The first reports of airstrikes in Yemen began to appear on social media just before 1:30 p.m.

It’s unclear where many participants in the group were located at the time. But within minutes, Mr. Waltz posted information on Signal drawing on what appeared to be a real-time battle damage assessment.

Michael WaltzVP. Building collapsed. Had multiple positive ID. Pete, Kurilla, the IC, amazing job.

1:48 p.m.

Michael WaltzTyping too fast. The first target – their top missile guy – we had positive ID of him walking into his girlfriend’s building and it’s now collapsed.

2:00 p.m.

Photographs posted to social media one minute later show Mr. Waltz in a crowded dining room at Trump International Golf Club, West Palm Beach with Mr. Trump, Mr. Rubio and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. Later that evening, Mr. Miller joined the group at Mar-a-Lago, a video shows.

The positive identification of the Houthi target referenced by Mr. Waltz, The Wall Street Journal later reported, came from Israeli intelligence, which had a human source on the ground in Yemen.

Congratulations and first-pumping emojis rolled in over the course of the afternoon from several members of the group, including Mr. Hegseth, Mr. Witkoff, Mr. Miller, and Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff.

“Great work and effects!” Ms. Gabbard said in a message to the Signal group at 6:45 p.m. She had just arrived in New Delhi.

The Times reached out to 11 administration officials via email with questions about their whereabouts and activities during the three-day period of the Signal chat. Only one — Ms. Gabbard’s deputy chief of staff, Alexa Henning — responded.

“How she travels is classified information,” she wrote in response to a question about Ms. Gabbard’s plane.