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Trump plans to meet with Atlantic editor who was added to secret Signal chat

Madeline Halpert
BBC News, New York
Getty Images Atlantic reporter Jeffrey Goldberg sits in a chairGetty Images
The White House has downplayed an incident in which the Atlantic editor-in-chief was added to a group chat with information on an attack against the Houthis

President Donald Trump will meet with The Atlantic magazine editor-in-chief who was inadvertently added to a Signal group chat with administration officials discussing air strikes against the Houthi group in Yemen.

Trump said on social media Thursday that he would be meeting Jeffrey Goldberg, and two of Mr Goldberg's colleagues, Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer, later in the day.

"I am doing this interview out of curiosity, and as a competition with myself, just to see if it's possible for The Atlantic to be 'truthful,'' Trump wrote.

Trump claimed the journalists were "not exactly pro-Trump writers" and questioned whether they were "capable of writing a fair story on 'TRUMP'?"

In the post, Trump said the interview would be for a story titled "The Most Consequential President of this Century". When contacted by the BBC, The Atlantic had no comment.

The interview comes a month after Mr Goldberg published a story about being added to a secret group chat on the encrypted texting app Signal. In the text chain, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and other top US officials discussed the details of an upcoming attack against the Houthis.

The scandal rocked the White House. Then, in April, the New York Times and others reported that Hegseth had shared information about the same military action in a second private Signal group chat, which included his wife, brother and personal lawyer.

Watch: ‘Why did they invite me?’ - Goldberg says Trump officials should accept mistake

Trump has continued to stand by his defence secretary and others involved in the incident, telling reporters earlier this week: "Pete's doing a great job ... Everybody's happy with him."

Hegseth's wife, Jennifer Rauchet, is a former Fox News producer and holds no official position within the Pentagon.

His brother, Phil, and personal lawyer Tim Parlatore, both hold positions at the Department of Defense. But it is not clear why any of the three would require advanced warnings about sensitive US strike plans.

The White House repeatedly has played down the scandals, claiming no "classified" information was shared with the Atlantic editor in the first chat. That thread included information about the exact timings of the air strikes as well as the weaponry being used, before the attack had taken place.