Washington is reeling – and the memes are rolling in – after top officials accidentally shared war plans with The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg in a Signal group chat.
The irony of the situation was not lost on Hillary Clinton, who reacted to the development with a post on X, saying “You have got to be kidding me,” accompanied by an “Eyes” emoji.
Clinton’s use of a private email server during her tenure as Secretary of State became a major controversy during her 2016 presidential campaign against Donald Trump, with the former First Lady herself later citing it as a factor that contributed to her loss.
👀 You have got to be kidding me.https://t.co/IhhvFvw6DG pic.twitter.com/bnNG4dGSpI
undefined Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 24, 2025
Some of her fiercest critics at the time – who slammed her handling of classified information – are now under fire for discussing top-secret plans on Signal, a messaging platform, and inadvertently adding Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, to the group chat.
The “Houthi PC small group” included National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, who reportedly invited Goldberg to join, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.
All have previously attacked Clinton over her use of a private email server. Vice President JD Vance and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard were also reportedly part of the group.
In the chat, top White House officials discussed strikes on Houthi rebel groups in Yemen and derided European allies. President Donald Trump, who was apparently not aware of the chat, later described the breach as a “glitch” that “turned out not to be a serious one.”
This was not the take on social media, where “resign” was trending on Tuesday as critics called for the officials involved in the security blunder to be dismissed or to step down. Social media platforms were also abuzz with memes and satirical commentary.
Here’s some of our favorites.
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Stephanie McNeal, senior editor of Glamour magazine, nailed it with a meme of Hilary Duff typing “LOL” on her flip phone, captioned: “Pete Hegseth texting The Atlantic war plans.”
undefined Kein Mensch Kein Tier (@KampfmitKette) March 24, 2025
This one, shared by German meme account Kein Mensch Kein Tier, shows Goldberg as Big Bird surrounded by clueless officials and a “GRU agent” – a nod to Russia’s military intelligence service.
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Social media user Dan Emerson noted one notable omission, posting a picture of teary Elon Musk, who leads Trump’s federal cost-cutting measures, under a caption reading, “You guys have a group chat?”
Ladies and gents, it's time for some undefinedHouthi PC small groupundefined memes!
undefined Pekka Kallioniemi (@P_Kallioniemi) March 25, 2025
I'll start with my favorites, post yours below 👊🇺🇸🔥 pic.twitter.com/2H2MMqUhcE
Pekka Kallioniemi, creator of Vatnik Soup, a platform that dissects Russian propaganda narratives, shared a meme that zeroed in on who was – and wasn’t – included in the group chat.
Uh oh the Trump administration accidentally added us to their group chat pic.twitter.com/fo6EiQ8fZd
undefined The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) March 24, 2025
The Daily Show shared a parody of the notorious Signal chat that did include Musk. It also featured Vance’s big baby head and suggested Hegseth was texting while drunk.
“Wait guys, P. Hegseth is typing…”
undefined News Eye (@newseye.bsky.social) March 24, 2025 at 7:15 PM
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The News Eye account on Bluesky highlighted just how exposed US secrets may be, sharing an image of Russian President Vladimir Putin looking at his phone with the caption: “Wait guys, Hegseth is typing.”
undefined Christian the Expat (@ExpatInSA) March 25, 2025
Others made light of the fact that Goldberg was an unwilling participant in the chat and left as soon as he realized it wasn’t a setup or a prank.
There are so many great reasons to be on Signal.
undefined Moxie Marlinspike (@moxie) March 24, 2025
Now including the opportunity for the vice president of the United States of America to randomly add you to a group chat for coordination of sensitive military operations.
Don’t sleep on this opportunity…
Finally, Signal founder Matthew Rosenfeld, better known by his pseudonym Moxie Marlinspike, seized the moment for a tongue-in-cheek marketing pitch.
Posting on X, he joked that one of the “many” great reasons to use Signal now includes the chance to be added to a government chat discussing sensitive military information.
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