Can Donald Trump shrug off the Signal chat leak?

Mar 26, 2025

The podcast dives into a sensitive military leak involving plans for strikes in Yemen, igniting debate over classified information. The hosts analyze the implications of the editor of The Atlantic joining a crucial group chat and the White House's defensive stance. There's a humorous yet serious look at the use of Signal for official communications, unveiling the absurdities of secure government work. The discussion wraps up with how this scandal shapes Trump's political landscape and the complexities of loyalty within the Republican Party.

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ANECDOTE

Accidental Leak

The Atlantic editor, Jeffrey Goldberg, was accidentally added to a WhatsApp group discussing bombing plans in Yemen.
This led to a public dispute and the release of the chat logs.

INSIGHT

War Plans Revealed

The leaked messages included specific details like when the first bombs would drop.
This information constitutes war plans, even without precise target locations.

ANECDOTE

Signal Scandal

Senior US government officials used Signal, a secure messaging app, for discussing sensitive information.
The Atlantic editor's inclusion highlighted the security risks and informality of such communication.

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What constitutes a ‘war plan’ and when is information ‘classified’?

After the revelation that the editor of The Atlantic was included in a sensitive group chat discussing plans to bomb Yemen, the magazine has taken the decision to publish the whole conversation discussing operational details of the attack.

The publication says it took the decision after repeated statements from top Republicans stating that no classified information was revealed to Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg.

As the fallout continues from the leak, the Americast team discuss how the mistake will impact Donald Trump, the White House strategy for dealing with the crisis, and whether could prompt the first firing of Trump's second term.

HOSTS: • Sarah Smith, North America Editor • Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent • Justin Webb, Radio 4 Presenter • Marianna Spring, Social Media Investigations Correspondent

GET IN TOUCH: • Join our online community: https://discord.gg/qSrxqNcmRB • Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480 • Email Americast@bbc.co.uk • Or use #Americast

This episode was made by George Dabby with Catherine Fusillo, Claire Betzer and Julia Webster. The technical producer was Michael Regaard. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

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Americast is part of the BBC News Podcasts family of podcasts. The team that makes Americast also makes lots of other podcasts, including The Global Story, The Today Podcast, and of course Newscast and Ukrainecast. If you enjoy Americast (and if you're reading this then you hopefully do), then we think that you will enjoy some of our other pods too. See links below.

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