United States President Donald Trump said he was unaware of reports that his top national security officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegsett, sent a text with war plans for upcoming military strikes on Yemen in a group chat on a secure messaging app, which also included the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine, the BBC reports.
The National Security Council previously said that the published communication "appears to be authentic."
The data in the message sent to that group contained operational details of upcoming attacks on Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, including information about targets, the weapons the US would use and the sequence of attacks, said The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg.
BBC journalist Bernd Debusman says he was one of the few reporters who was in the White House with the president when news of the group chat emerged and spread quickly.
At an event in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, ostensibly to announce Hyundai's investments in the US, Trump claimed he was unaware of the reports.
"I don't know anything about it. I'm not a big fan of The Atlantic, for me it's a magazine that's going out of business," he said of the outlet that published the original story.
Along with Hyundai executives, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Trump in turn asked reporters to clarify what was going on and demanded details.
"That (story) couldn't have been very effective. Since the attack (on the Houthis) was very effective, I can tell you that. This is the first time you're telling me about that (story)," he said.
Unlike his morning cabinet meeting, where reporters were invited for 47 minutes of questions and answers, Trump left the Roosevelt Room about eight minutes after this question was asked, according to Debusman.
The BBC also writes that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke to reporters in the US state of Hawaii about the messages published in the Atlantic article.
He mostly deflected reporters' questions, saying that Goldberg was not a serious journalist and was "trashing trash."
"So, you are talking about a lying and highly discredited, so-called journalist," he stated.
He then praised the military operation, saying: "We will eventually decimate the Houthis."
Pressed again, Hegset said. "Nobody sent messages about war plans and that's all I have to say about it."
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