Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is blasting the Trump administration over what he called “the highest level of fuckup imaginable,” following news that top officials mistakenly shared U.S. war plans in an unsecured group chat that included a journalist.
Keep up with the latest in LGBTQ+ news and politics. Sign up for The Advocate's email newsletter.
Buttigieg, the first out LGBTQ+ person to be confirmed to a Cabinet-level position by the U.S. Senate, posted a blunt statement onInstagram Monday after The Atlantic revealed that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, and others used a Signal group chat to coordinate strikes on the Houthi group in Yemen — and accidentally added The Atlantic’s editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg. Signal is an encrypted messaging app used by journalists and government officials, but rarely for high-level officials to communicate with each other about classified information.
Related: Pete Buttigieg blasts ‘despicable’ Donald Trump for blaming D.C. plane crash on DEI
“Today’s news of an astonishing security failure at the White House, from an operational security perspective, is the highest level of fuckup imaginable,” Buttigieg wrote. “These people cannot keep America safe.”
The breach, which the White House has now confirmed to The New York Times, exposed sensitive operational details about U.S. strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen — including targeting information, weapons to be used, and the exact timing of the attack. Goldberg said he watched the chat unfold in real time, then sat in his car as the strikes occurred precisely when the chat said they would.
Buttigieg, a former Navy intelligence officer, followed up on Bluesky, posting, “I’ll be on CNN at 9 p.m. ET with Kaitlan Collins to discuss today’s news of the astonishing security failure at the White House.”
Related: Pete Buttigieg & Stephen Colbert take turns roasting Donald Trump for his unhinged presidential address
The Signal thread included Hegseth, Waltz, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President JD Vance, and others. In it, Vance questioned the political optics of the operation and said he was reluctant to “bail Europe out again.” Hegseth replied, “I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC.”
The group discussed messaging strategies, anticipated oil price spikes, and the administration’s desire to “extract economic gain” from allies in exchange for restored security.
Critics from both sides of the aisle expressed alarm. U.S. Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, called it “one of the most egregious failures of operational security and common sense I have ever seen.”
Experts have warned that sending such sensitive material over a commercial app — even if encrypted —c ould violate the Espionage Act and federal records laws. The administration’s justification that it was a simple mistake doesn’t change the stakes: This was an active military operation, and American lives were at risk.
For Americans who lived through years of right-wing outrage over Hillary Clinton’s private email server, the hypocrisy wasn’t lost. Trump made Clinton’s emails a rallying cry in 2016. On Monday, Clinton reposted the Atlantic report with one sentence: “You have got to be kidding me.”
When asked about the report Monday, President Donald Trump claimed he had no knowledge of it. “I don’t know anything about it,” he told reporters.
Buttigieg’s response sparked an outpouring of public support online. His rare public use of profanity resonated with followers who are exhausted by political double standards and mounting institutional failures.
“You know it’s bad when Pete drops the f-bomb,” one commenter wrote on social media. Another added, “When Mr. Pete uses 'fuckup' in a sentence, you should probably be paying attention.”
While some predicted conservative backlash, others focused on the long-term consequences. “Fox News is going to run eight stories about Pete using profanity before they criticize the Trump administration for this failure,” one user commented.
Buttigieg recently announced that he would not seek the Michigan governor's seat or an open U.S. Senate seat from the state, leading observers to wonder if he is setting himself up for another presidential run in 2028.
Many praised the clarity of his message and called for Buttigieg to take a bigger role on the national stage. “Pete for President 2028 anyone?” one asked. “This is the energy we need,” another wrote. “Can you imagine all the fuckups we don’t know about?”
As one follower put it: “It’s real and human — two things so many of us want to see in our leaders.”
