March 27, 2025 – U.S. Vice President JD Vance urged senior Trump administration officials to take precautions to protect Saudi oil facilities ahead of planned airstrikes on Yemen’s Houthis, according to text messages released Wednesday.
The Trump administration’s plans to launch attacks on the Houthis were leaked to an American journalist who claimed he was mistakenly added to a group chat with top U.S. national security officials.
Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, published an article containing screenshots of these discussions, which took place over several weeks.
In response to the leak, White House officials dismissed Goldberg’s claims, calling him a journalist who “peddles in garbage” and stating that no classified details or war plans were disclosed.
Initially hesitant about the strikes, Vance suggested postponing them but later aligned with Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, ultimately endorsing the operation.
“We need to ensure our messaging is clear. If there are any steps we can take to reduce risk to Saudi oil facilities, we should implement them,” Vance stated in one of his messages.
In a Wednesday post on X, Vance criticized Goldberg, claiming: “Goldberg exaggerated what he had. Also, remember when he accused Ratcliffe of exposing a CIA operative? Turns out, Ratcliffe was merely naming his chief of staff.”
Goldberg had previously alleged that CIA Director John Ratcliffe endangered the identity of a U.S. intelligence officer, a claim he refrained from verifying for security reasons.
While the White House confirmed the authenticity of the group chat, both current and former officials asserted that classified information was indeed revealed.
Among the disclosed details were strike targets, weapon types, and attack timings, shared by Hegseth. Officials noted that public exposure of this data before or during the operations could have jeopardized U.S. fighter pilots.
The Trump administration later hailed the airstrikes as a success and criticized the Biden administration for failing to deter Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping routes.
Meanwhile, there have been calls for Hegseth and Waltz to resign, though Trump and his allies have strongly defended them.