When the Group Chat Goes Nuclear
Who among us hasn’t accidentally texted the wrong person?
We’ve all done it—sent a message meant for a friend to a boss, or looped someone into a group chat by mistake. But when the group chat includes national security officials, and the person added by accident is the Editor-in-Chief of The Atlantic, the consequences are a little… bigger.
That’s exactly what happened recently.
Here’s the gist: A group of high-level Trump administration officials were coordinating military actions over Signal, the encrypted app known for its disappearing messages. Why? Because the U.S. government doesn’t provide a secure texting platform for classified conversations, and these guys wanted to talk the way everyone does now—quick, casual, and off-the-record.
Only, instead of adding Jamieson Greer, the U.S. Trade Rep, Rep. Mike Waltz accidentally added Jeffrey Goldberg, the journalist. Wrong “JG.” Massive screw-up.
The Human Side of a National Security Breach
Honestly, I get it. These are people operating at the highest levels of government, but they’re still people. They text like the rest of us. They want immediacy, not email chains. They want disappearing messages, not a FOIA trail.
But let’s be real: if a Democratic official had made this exact mistake, the GOP would be calling for impeachment, disbarment, and possibly public shaming. The double standard is obvious—and frustrating.
So far, no heads have rolled. But if anyone’s vulnerable, it’s Waltz. He embarrassed the whole administration. If Trump throws him under the bus now, though, it opens the door for scrutiny of everyone else on the thread—people like Pete Hegseth, who allegedly shared actual war plans.
And it’s only Month 3.
“The real damage here isn’t just national security—it’s confidence,” I said to someone recently. “When your top people come off sloppy, secretive, and hypocritical, it eats away at the public’s belief that the grown-ups are in charge.”
Meanwhile, A Crowd Is Gathering
While the right fumbles basic operational security, the left is drawing enormous crowds.
Bernie Sanders and AOC are on a “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, pulling in tens of thousands across battleground states like Wisconsin, Arizona, and Nevada. It’s the most energized part of the Democratic base, and it’s showing up with purpose.
Now, it’s not all good news. The movement is less about unity and more about pressure—especially on moderate Dems who voted for the recent continuing resolution to keep the government open. Senator Chuck Schumer is taking heat from progressives for that deal, but let’s be honest: he didn’t have a choice. A government shutdown under Trump wouldn’t have been temporary—it would have been weaponized.
I’ve joked that if Democrats had gone through with a shutdown, they would’ve also needed a $10 billion GoFundMe to keep 1 million federal workers afloat. And that’s the stuff nobody talks about when they’re demanding a shutdown with the lights still on.
A Brewing Civil War (Within the Democrats)
The base wants a fight. Primary challenges are coming—from the left. But the path forward isn’t clear, because the left doesn’t play well in Ohio, Florida, or Texas, where Senate seats are actually in play.
And here’s the math: Three Democratic Senators aren’t running again. The Senate map is brutal. Republicans already have a 53–47 lead, and it could grow. People like Ezra Klein are quietly floating ideas like backing Independents in red states, because Democrats simply aren’t viable there. That’s a major shift.
And while we’re at it—some of us are wondering why there isn’t more competition in safe blue states either. A little democracy in California or Massachusetts wouldn’t hurt.
Where We Are Now
The status quo is breaking down. The right is fractured, the left is frustrated, and the middle is thinning out. But there’s opportunity here too—to rethink how we organize, who we support, and what we demand.
If this moment teaches us anything, it’s this: professionalism matters. So does energy. So does accountability. And if we can’t find all of those in one place, maybe it’s time to build something new.