Trump envoy to Russia when he joined chat group
Wolfgang Hansson
This is a commentary text. Analysis and positions are those of the writer.
Updated 12.39 | Published 12.28
President Trump's envoy to fix peace in Ukraine was in Moscow at the same time as he was added to a top-secret chat group where plans for a military attack on the Houthi rebels in Yemen were discussed.
Experts warn that Russia may have tapped Steve Witkoff's phone.
If it turns out to be true, the scandal will grow.
Quick version
The chat group was started by Trump's national security adviser Mike Waltz and included a total of 18 people on the commercial messaging app Signal. Including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump's chief of staff Susan Wiles. In other words, the cream of Trump's inner circle.
One of the most important people in the administration right now is Steve Witkoff, a former business partner of Trump who has suddenly been elevated to master negotiator despite having absolutely no diplomatic experience.
Witkoff is actually Trump's Middle East envoy and one of those who pressured Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza in January. But because the Russians complained that Keith Kellogg, Trump's envoy to Ukraine, was too pro-Ukrainian, the president has put Witkoff in charge of contacts with Russia during the negotiations.
It was in this capacity that Witkoff arrived in Moscow on March 13 to meet Putin. On the same day, Waltz added Witkoff to a chat in which an attack on the Houthi rebels was being discussed on the Signal app.
The editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine, Jeffrey Goldberg, was also accidentally added to the chat. Thanks to his revelation, the chat and most of its content have become known and caused a major scandal.
According to Goldbergs, Witkoff did not write anything in the chat until he had left Moscow. But a number of American, British and Swedish security experts testified yesterday that the mere fact that he brought his phone to Russia and was added to the group there poses a high risk that it could have been hacked and intercepted by the Russians.
This is problematic in several ways.
Russia has close military cooperation with Iran, which in turn finances the Houthi rebels in Yemen. If the Russians managed to intercept what was written in the Signal chat group, they received advance information about the planned US attack in Yemen. They may then have warned Iran, which in turn may have informed the Houthi rebels of the impending attack.
Two hours before the attack, Defense Secretary Hegseth shared information in the chat about which targets would be bombed and in what order, according to Goldberg's information.
This may have given the Houthis an opportunity to evacuate, but it also risked putting the lives of the American fighter pilots in danger.
It should be emphasized that we do not know whether any of this happened.
We cannot be sure that the Kremlin actually managed to hack Witkoff's phone or that it shared the information with Iran. According to the White House, the attack on the Houthis was successful.
But Witkoff, like everyone else in the presidential administration, has been given strict instructions not to communicate classified information in any way other than through the government's own secure communications systems.
American experts say that ministers and other high-ranking officials in the administration always carry secure communications with them when they travel. This does not include regular mobile phones.
Russia has reportedly put a lot of effort into hacking the Signal app.
The fact that Witkoff was added to the chat group while he was in Russia shows the dangers of communicating on unauthorized channels.
Witkoff does not blame him for being added, but he also did not react by pointing out the inappropriateness of the communication
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