Atlantic Editor Names The 1 Thing He Struggled To Explain In Bombshell Group Chat Report

Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, shared Monday that he struggles to explain the “unreality” of Trump officials using a third-party messaging app to discuss war plans after he broke the story on the group chat he was inadvertently added to.

“The unreality of it, I think, is something that’s very hard to capture,” Goldberg told MSNBC’s Jen Psaki.

In his bombshell report, Goldberg described his initial concerns that the Signal group chat ― which he said he was added to by national security adviser Michael Waltz and included the likes of Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ― was a “disinformation operation,” a “simulation” or a “hoax.”

The Signal chat, which he was added to earlier this month, saw officials discuss highly sensitive matters of national security like the then-upcoming strikes in Yemen.

Goldberg declared that the national security world is a “pretty serious” one, adding those below the principals committee of the National Security Council take their responsibilities “extremely seriously.”

He proceeded to remind Psaki, a former political adviser for presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, that they both know of people who have gone to prison for “mishandling” sensitive materials.

“I’ve been asked this question a few times today, it’s, ‘Why did you have such a hard time believing this?’ And the answer is, ‘Because it’s unbelievable,’” said Goldberg, adding that he’s “never experienced” such a situation either before or after the 9/11 attacks.

“These are life and death issues, and you don’t just put out specific targeting information, specific timings of attacks that have not yet taken place, into a commercial messaging app,” Goldberg said.

He said the “most obvious explanation” for the group chat, that it was real, was “the most improbable one” for most of the time he was following it.

“Because I’ve never seen senior government officials act this way,” he added.