NOTE: If you are short on time, watch the video and complete this See, Think, Wonder activity: What did you notice? What did the story make you think about? What would you want to learn more about?
UPDATE: You may also want to view News Hour's latest piece "Democrats grill Trump officials on why they used a commercial app to discuss war plans." (3/25/25).
SUMMARY
Senior Trump administration officials used the commercial messaging app Signal to debate the pros and cons of launching military strikes against the Houthis in Yemen and accidentally invited Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic and Washington Week moderator, to be part of the chat. Goldberg revealed the details in a report for The Atlantic and joined Amna Nawaz to discuss more.
View the transcript of the story. News alternative: Check out recent segments from the News Hour, and choose the story you’re most interested in watching. You can make a Google doc copy of discussion questions that work for any of the stories here.
WARM-UP QUESTIONS
- Who is Jeffrey Goldberg?
- Which members of the Trump administration were included in the group chat?
- When did Goldberg begin to receive messages from the group chat?
- How did Goldberg know that the messages were real?
- What operational details were sent to Goldberg?
FOCUS QUESTIONS
Signal, a commercial messaging app, was the app used to discuss military operational details in the government group chat. Jeffrey Goldberg says he has never before seen an app like Signal used to discuss this type of information.
- Why do you think using Signal to discuss potentially classified government information could be dangerous? Explain your response.
- Do you think whoever is responsible for mistakenly including Goldberg in these chats will be reprimanded? Why or why not?
Media literacy: How could you find out more about national security in the U.S. and what officials like Mike Waltz are responsible for?
WHAT STUDENTS CAN DO
Watch this video to see Trump's response to the report of the leaked war plans sent to Jeffrey Goldberg.
Then, watch the video below to see Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., question U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe about the group chat.
- Gabbard and Ratcliffe say that no classified information was shared in the group chat but do not share the details of what was shared. What do you think of their response? Should they share the details of the chat with the Select Committee on Intelligence as Warner suggests?
- Do you think those in the group chat should still be held accountable for the possible risk to national security by using Signal and mistakenly including Jeffrey Goldberg in the chat, even if the information turns out not to be classified?
Written by Gianfranco Beran, PBS News Hour Classroom's production assistant, and News Hour's Victoria Pasquantonio.
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