Full transcript of Trump team’s Yemen attack plan that was shared on Signal

The Houthi rebels in Yemen were mistakenly discussed in a group discussion moderated by its editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, by The Atlantic magazine.

The release on Wednesday came after US President Donald Trump sought to minimize the significance of the texts shared on the Signal messaging app, calling them “not a big deal.”

As the US military prepared to launch its assault on Yemen, some of the most significant messages that were published appear to have been sent on March 15 by an account that appears to be Pete Hegseth.

Among those present at the conversation were Vice President JD Vance, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, who purportedly worked for the White House as Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller (SM), as well as Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard (TG).

The senior US officials talking about the strikes on the day of the strikes, as described in detail, are provided in this transcript:

March 15

Hegseth (11: 44 am ET):

• CHANGE IN THE TEAM.
• Weather is favorable right now (1144et). We are a GO for mission launch, we just CONFIRMED with CENTCOM.
• 1345: “Trigger Based” F-18 1st Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is@his Known Location; SHOULD BE ON TIME; see also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s).
• 1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package)
• 1415: Strike Drones on Target (THE FIRST BOMBS WILL FINALLY DROP, pending earlier “Trigger Based” targets).
• First sea-based Tomahawks to be launched in 1536. Second Strike:
• MORE TO DO (based on the timeline)
• On OPSEC, we are currently clean.
• Our warriors, Godspeed.

Vance (12.13pm ET):

• I’ll ask for victory in prayer.

Waltz (13: 48pm ET):

• VP. The structure fell. had a number of positive identification. The IC did a fantastic job, Kurilla, and Pete.

Vance (13.54 pm ET):

Waltz (14.00pm ET):

Vance (14.01pm ET):

Ratcliffe (14.36pm ET):

Waltz

Rubio (17: 14pm ET):

• Good work, Pete and your team! !

Waltz (17: 15pm ET):

• The MAL team did a fantastic job as well.

Stephen Miller (17: 18pm ET)

• Great work, everyone. a strong start

Hegseth (17: 20pm ET):

• CENTCOM was/is effective. Great work, everyone. Additional strikes are ongoing for hours tonight, and we will publish a full report tomorrow. But they have been good readouts so far, on time, and on target.

Wiles (17: 21pm ET)

• Kudos to everyone, especially those working on CENTCOM and theaters! Absolutely fantastic. God’s blessings.

Middle Eastern special envoy Steve Witkoff (17:47 p.m. ET)

Gabbard (18: 35pm ET)

• Great effects and work!

The transcript below contains excerpts that reveal how the attacks developed:

March 13

Waltz (16: 28pm ET):

• Creating a principles group to coordinate Houthis, particularly over the next 72 hours.
• Following the meeting in the Sit Room this morning, my deputy Alex Wong is putting together a tiger team at the deputies/agency chief of staff for action items, which he will distribute later this evening.
• Please provide your team’s best staff POC for us to coordinate with over the coming days and the weekend. Thx.

Marco Rubio (16: 29pm ET):

• Mike Needham for the state

JD Vance (16: 29pm ET):

• VP Andy Baker

Tulsi Gabbard (16: 30pm ET)

• Joe Kent for DNI

Scott Bessent (16: 39pm ET)

• Treasury, Dan Katz

Pete Hegseth (16: 53pm ET)

• DoD Dan Caldwell

Brian (18: 34pm ET)

• NSC’s Brian McCormack

March 14

Waltz (08: 05am ET):

• In your high side inboxes, you should receive a statement of conclusions with taskings as per the President’s directive this morning.
• We created suggested notification lists for regional allies and partners in the form of state and DOD.
• We will collaborate with DOD to ensure COS, OVP, and POTUS are informed about the more specific sequence of events in the upcoming days.

Vance (08: 16am ET):

• Team, I’m in Michigan for a day of work and attending an economic event. However, I believe we are in error.
• The Suez accounts for 3% of US trade. 40% of trade occurs in Europe. There is a real chance that the general public is unaware of this or its necessity.
• According to POTUS, sending a message is the only way to go about doing this. The president may not be aware of how incongruent his position on Europe is right now with his message. A moderate to severe increase in oil prices is another possibility.
• I’m willing to back the team’s consensus and keep these issues a secret. However, there is a compelling argument to postpone this for a month, conduct research on why this matters, assess the state of the economy, etc.

Joe Kent, Gabbard staff chief of staff, quoting (08:22 AM ET):

• Driving the time line is not time-sensitive. In a month, we will have the exact same choices.
• The Israelis will most likely launch strikes against the Houthis, and they will likely demand more from us.
• That’s just a small part, though. The unclass data we obtained from BAM shipping will be sent to you.

Ratcliffe (08: 26am ET):

• We are currently mobilizing resources from the CIA, but a delay would not have a negative impact on us and time would be used to find better starting points for coverage of Houthi leadership.

Hegseth (08: 27am ET):

• VP (Vance): I fully understand your concerns regarding the POTUS and support you in every way.
• Important factors, the majority of which are difficult to predict (economy, peace in Ukraine, Gaza, etc.)
• No one knows who the Houthis are, so I believe messaging will be difficult no matter what. This is why we would need to stay focused on 1) Biden’s failure and 2) Iran funding. The calculus does not change in a fundamental way by waiting a few weeks or a month.
• There are two immediate risks to waiting: 1) this leaks, which makes us look indecisive; 2) Israel acts first, or Gaza ceasesfire ends, so we don’t get to start this on our own terms. We are able to handle both. If there was a final go or no go vote, we should be able to carry out, and I think so.
• Not the Houthis are the subject of this. Restoring the country’s fundamental right to navigation, which Biden cratered, and restoring deterrence, which Biden cratered, are two things I see.
• However, pause is simple to make. And if it does, I’ll do everything in my power to enforce the OPSEC to the fullest. I’d like to hear your opinions.

Waltz (08: 32am ET):

• Our current trade figures include 30% of container and 15% of global trade. It’s challenging to pin that down to US.
• Specific because a significant portion of the container, either moving through the red sea or around the Cape of Good Hope, is going to Europe and is being made into products for transatlantic trade to the United States.
• Whether or not we stop now, the European navies are unable to withstand the sophisticated, anti-ship, cruise missile, and drone warfare the Houthis are currently using.
• Therefore, it will have to be the US, whether it is now or in a few weeks, when these shipping lanes are reopened. We are collaborating with the president to figure out how to collect the costs and levy them on the Europeans, at the president’s request.

Waltz (08: 42am ET):

• We are the only ones with the ability to decide, as we did in the first PC, whether to allow the sea lanes to remain closed or to re-open them now or later.
• We absolutely agree with all of the messaging that the Europeans must use to promote their defense.

Vance (08: 45am ET):

• Let’s leave, Pete Hegseth, if you think we should.
• I detest re-inflating Europe’s bailout.

Vance (08: 46am ET):

• Just make sure the messaging is consistent here.
• And we should do it if there are things we can do right away to reduce the risk to the Saudi oil facilities.

Hegseth (08: 49am ET):

• VP: I completely agree with you about European free-loading. It is PATHETIC.
• However, Mike is correct in saying that we are the only people on the planet capable of doing this (on our side of the ledger). Nobody else comes even close.
• The question is about timing. Given the POTUS’s recommendation to reopen shipping lanes, I believe this is the best time to act. Although POTUS still has 24 hours of decision-making time, I believe we should leave.

SM (09: 35am ET):

• The president said, “Green Light, but we soon make clear to Egypt and Europe what we expect in return,” as I heard it.
• We need to determine a way to put such a requirement into effect as well. What, EG, if Europe doesn’t make money?
• There must be some additional economic gain if the US is successful in restoring freedom of navigation for a sizable price.