Signalgate scrambles MAGA's messaging machine

• The result is a cocktail not seen since Trump's first term: A scandal that won't quit, and a base left scrambling to defend what many see as indefensible.

Zoom in: The Trump administration's official response emerged Wednesday within minutes of The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg publishing messages he had initially withheld that showed top officials discussing an attack on the Houthis in Yemen.

• It centered in large part on semantics: Trump officials pointed to The Atlantic's use of "attack plans" in its new headline to accuse the magazine of walking back its initial claims about leaked "war plans."
• There is a distinction in military parlance: "War plans" are typically more comprehensive, strategic frameworks that account for multiple scenarios, while "attack plans" usually pertain to a specific tactical operation.
• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth mocked the "war plans" characterization: "No names. No targets. No locations. No units. No routes. No sources. No methods."

Zoom out: That argument fell flat with much of the national security community, which expressed horror at Hegseth's public sharing of detailed information about the sequencing of U.S. airstrikes in Yemen.

• The Trump administration's claims that the information wasn't classified — despite the use of exact times and weapons packages planned for the attacks — have been heavily disputed by current and former U.S. officials.
• Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) called for an independent investigation, while other Republicans suggested the Trump administration should own up to its mistake and stop deflecting.

Between the lines: The MAGA media ecosystem — the frontline of Trump's communication machine — has splintered into a series of competing theories to try to explain away the scandal.

1. It's 5-D chess: Some pro-Trump influencers suggested the leak was intentional, and that Goldberg was tricked into publishing a curated message that showed thoughtful deliberations about U.S. policy toward the Houthis.

• "I'm going to have to go ahead and say I think they're manipulating this journalist because he basically published their PR message for them," said MAGA podcaster Tim Pool.

2. It's a "Deep State" setup: The timing of The Atlantic leak, one day before Trump national security officials were due to testify before Congress, has sabotage written all over it, according to influencer DC Draino.

• The Federalist CEO Sean Davis went a step further, suggesting the scandal was a "pretext to ban Signal and force all communications back onto channels that can be accessed by corrupt intel bureaucrats."

3. It's a mistake, but it's refreshing: House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), activist Charlie Kirk and other top Trump supporters have praised the officials involved in the Signal group for acting in private how they do in public.

• "It shows integrity, it shows symmetry, it shows consistency," Kirk said on Fox News, drawing a contrast with Trump officials in his first term who sought to undermine the president's agenda.

4. Goldberg can't be trusted: Pro-Trump voices inside and outside of the White House have relentlessly attacked the credibility of The Atlantic's editor-in-chief, saying he overhyped the contents of the group chat.

• "I'm shocked that the perpetrator of the 'suckers and losers' hoax would exaggerate and lie about what was in these messages!!!" wrote Donald Trump Jr., referring to Goldberg's 2020 reporting on Trump's alleged disparaging of fallen veterans.

5. Take the L: Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, who represents a significant segment of Trump voters who aren't hardcore loyalists, called for national security adviser Mike Waltz to be fired for mistakenly adding Goldberg to the Signal chat.

• Portnoy was brutally honest: "I don't care if you're right or left ... It's obvious these texts are real. It's obvious they're classified. It's obvious we gave away strike information two hours before it happened. ... Somebody has to go down for this."

The bottom line: For the first time arguably since the election, Trump's allies have lost control of the public narrative — including on X, the platform owned by the president's billionaire adviser Elon Musk.

• Trump himself effectively acknowledged as much on Tuesday, complaining to reporters: "They've made a big deal out of this because we've had two perfect months."
• "If this story proves anything, it proves that Democrats and their propagandists in the mainstream media know how to fabricate, orchestrate and disseminate a misinformation campaign quite well," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.