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The Atlantic “Backpedals” on Hegseth Hit Piece as “Hoax” Falls Flat on Its Face
American Tribune ^ | March 28, 2025 | Will Tanner

Posted on 03/28/2025 6:59:20 AM PDT by Red Badger

In yet another major win for President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Defense, Army veteran Pete Hegseth, it is emerging that the story published in The Atlantic about a supposed group chat in which “war plans” were shared was a “hoax,” as there were no war plans shared in the chat, which is just what Hegseth said to discredit the story from the start.

For reference, The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, the magazine’s editor-in-chief, released an explosive report in which he claimed to have been added to a group chat in which Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and other top Trump Administration officials discussed “war plans.”

Hegseth quickly told the media that the allegations from Goldberg were false, as no one in the chat was texting about “war plans.” He said, “As I also stated yesterday, nobody’s texting war plans, and that’s all I have to say about that.” Adding to that, Hegseth noted, “I know exactly what I’m doing, exactly what we’re directing, and I’m really proud of what we accomplished, the successful missions that night and going forward.”

Initially, The Atlantic tried defending its reporting by releasing screenshots of the supposed messages. Those were soon examined, and readers discovered that none of them involved the supposed “war plans” discussed by the Trump Administration officials; rather, they mainly showed those officials being annoyed with America’s NATO allies for not pulling their weight.

Also commented upon in the chat, which is what Goldberg used as the basis for his claim that the “war plans” were discussed, was the then-imminent bombing of Houthis, which was far from a discussion of “war plans.” And so The Atlantic changed its headline to “Here Are the Attack Plans That Trump’s Advisors Shared on Signal,” which more accurately reflects what Goldberg claims to have seen, and were plans that were widely known outside the chat.

X political commentator Eric Daugherty, sounding off on The Atlantic and commenting on its new headline in a post on X, said, “🚨 THEY’RE BACKPEDALING! The Atlantic just sent out an update report CLARIFYING that there WERE NO WAR PLANS exchanged in that Signal chat… they were (as we all saw) some discussion on the Houthi strikes that Americans knew were coming.”

Continuing, Daugherty said, “This hoax totally fell on its face! They added additional messages in today’s release, but there is nothing new. There are endless holes in what was supposed to be a HUGE outrage. – No classified info – Signal was approved for use by the Biden admin – No “war plans” were discussed.” Watch Hegseth hammer The Atlantic here:

VIDEO AT LINK.................

Steven Cheung, the White House Director of Communications, sounded off on The Atlantic as well for making the sensational, anti-Hegseth claim despite its paltry evidence, saying, “The Atlantic beclowns itself as they concede— by releasing this— that no “war planning” was going on as they had falsely alleged. Sounds like some terrorists had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.”

Cheung further said, hammering leakers within the White Hosue who have been aiding the Atlantic, “The outside, unnamed sources in this fake story are nothing more than weak, bed-wetters who don’t know anything about communications/messaging. They would rather give The Atlantic and Democrats a victory, instead of fighting. That’s why they’re not part of this Administration.”

Also sounding off on The Atlantic for making such a sensationalist claim without evidence was Taylor Budowich, who called the story a “hoax” and said, “The Atlantic has already abandoned their bullshit “war plans” narrative, and in releasing the full chat , they concede they LIED to perpetuate yet ANOTHER hoax on the American people. What scumbags!”


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Front Page News; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: arrestgoldberg; atlantic; atlanticmonthly; backpedal; canarytrap; eggonface; firehegseth; goldberg; gotya; hegseth; hoax; jeffreygoldberg; liars; mole; notheydidnt; notwarplans; petehegseth; sedition; spies; theatlantic; treason; willtanner
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1 posted on 03/28/2025 6:59:20 AM PDT by Red Badger
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To: Red Badger

The Atlantic Magazine are enemy actors.

This is not difficult.


2 posted on 03/28/2025 7:03:16 AM PDT by cgbg (It was not us. It was them--all along.)
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To: Red Badger

As cited, smelled from the outset.

3 posted on 03/28/2025 7:07:28 AM PDT by logi_cal869 (-cynicus the "concern troll" a/o 10/03/2018 /!i!! &@$%&*(@ -)
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To: Red Badger

Bet that flag hat triggered all those reporters.


4 posted on 03/28/2025 7:07:53 AM PDT by bray (It's not racist to be racist against races the DNC hates.)
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To: Red Badger

FBI agents probably were sent to Goldberg and his head editor.


5 posted on 03/28/2025 7:09:30 AM PDT by struggle
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To: struggle

Yes, treason could gain unwanted attention.


6 posted on 03/28/2025 7:11:21 AM PDT by madison10 (God chose Prrsident Trump. Satan chose judges and Democrats.)
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To: Red Badger

As earlier, an ethical person (NOT journalists) would have jumped out of the thread and let someone know. Butt......


7 posted on 03/28/2025 7:14:03 AM PDT by rktman (Destroy America from withinE ? Check! WTH? Enlisted USN 1967 to end up with this💩? 🚫💉! 🇮🇱👍!)
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To: Red Badger

Expect 1000 more hoaxes (to tie up the Trump admin)


8 posted on 03/28/2025 7:16:58 AM PDT by Lazamataz (I'm so on fire that I feel the need to stop, drop, and roll!)
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To: Lazamataz

Pretty suspect that there was a mole in the organization that added Goldberg to the email like surreptitiously. There are people trying to undermine Trump everywhere.


9 posted on 03/28/2025 7:20:37 AM PDT by DrHFrog
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To: Red Badger

Who told the genius, Goldberg, that he saw “war plans?”


10 posted on 03/28/2025 7:23:12 AM PDT by madison10 (God chose Prrsident Trump. Satan chose judges and Democrats.)
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To: Red Badger

No no no! Katharine herrings, err herridge, “a leading conservative journalist” (according to the feckless msm), says it was “much worse” than “merely divulging ‘war plans” /S

She sued to be such a good journalist too- something sure happened to her! Now she has exposed herself as a TDS hack and liar to boot!


11 posted on 03/28/2025 7:25:07 AM PDT by Bob434 (Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana)
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To: logi_cal869

Ditto. Soon as this showed up and as soon as I saw it from the Atlantic, I said right away I needed more evidence than a statement from a journalist, known to be antagonistic toward Trump to begin with, saying “Well I was added to the chat and saw it with my own eyes so you should completely believe everything I said without question.”

Sorry, pal. When your credibility is in the toilet already, it don’t work that way.


12 posted on 03/28/2025 7:25:48 AM PDT by cross_bearer_02
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To: DrHFrog

Is is suspec5ed 5hst the left KNEW about the possibi,ity of security issues with the text program, and planned the whole thing and likel6 had their gotcha questioning all ready to go and their faux outrag3d all keyed up and ready for the hearings. They sure pounced on it in lightening fashion.


13 posted on 03/28/2025 7:28:11 AM PDT by Bob434 (Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana)
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To: Red Badger

It appears that The Atlantic hasn’t retracted or disavowed anything. The “backpedal” claim is just the author’s opinion, based on a headline change and the release of the full chat, which The Atlantic says supports its reporting.


14 posted on 03/28/2025 7:29:12 AM PDT by RoosterRedux (WWIII has begun. It's the Left in the U.S. and around the world against MAGA. )
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To: DrHFrog

Now Hegseth, VP Vance, et al, know who the mole(s) are for sure. They probably already had suspicions.


15 posted on 03/28/2025 7:30:03 AM PDT by madison10 (God chose Prrsident Trump. Satan chose judges and Democrats.)
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To: Red Badger
A lie? Impossible. Why, I've read on this very forum that this was going to be the beginning of the end for the Trump administration...Hegseth was finished...six ways to Sunday...the invincible Imperial forces of the Sith were now going to destroy us all, etc., etc.

I'm going to wait to pass judgement until all of those voices chime in on this news.

16 posted on 03/28/2025 7:30:08 AM PDT by Frank Drebin (And don't ever let me catch you guys in America!)
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To: Red Badger

All you malcontents that thought THIS TIME, go suck on your....lollipop!


17 posted on 03/28/2025 7:36:09 AM PDT by going hot (Happiness is a Momma Deuce)
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To: DrHFrog

the mole should be treated legally as a foreign spy attempting to share and subvert military planning and threatening the executive branch. Kash? Listing? it’s in your area of responsibility and expertise.


18 posted on 03/28/2025 7:41:29 AM PDT by epluribus_2
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To: RoosterRedux

The headline change IS the backpedal. They know they messed up and are covering their butts because they could face jail time.


19 posted on 03/28/2025 7:43:20 AM PDT by Kleon
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To: Red Badger

Considering there is now a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration in the matter and the judge assigned to the case is James Boasberg, I’d say this is just the tip of the iceberg on where this story goes.


20 posted on 03/28/2025 7:45:48 AM PDT by mac_truck (aide toi et dieu t'aidera)
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