‘Signalgate’ has turned a string of patriotic emoji into a meme that will live in infamy

A recent group chat between high-ranking Trump officials may not exactly have been secure, but its place in internet culture certainly is. The fiasco known as Signalgate introduced what may already be the most infamous group chat in American history, inspiring a flood of memes across all social media realms and unveiling a string of patriotic emoji that now holds a permanent smirking perch in the public lexicon. According to an eye-popping story from The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, an account attributed to National Security Advisor Mike Waltz invited Goldberg to join a chat called “Houthi PC small group” on encrypted messaging app Signal earlier this month. There, boldfaced names including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance discussed plans to bomb Houthis in Yemen. Although dubious at first, Goldberg realized the chat was authentic when those plans were later confirmed by reality. After Goldberg published his scorching account of Signalgate on Monday, the internet erupted in speculation. Ironically, group chats across the country were likely consumed with it. The National Security Council quickly confirmed that the messages seemed authentic. Their statement to the press included a meager defense of those involved: “The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials.” Of course, many social media dwellers thought the thread demonstrated something else: elite memeability. @bmotheprince The USA National Security Group Chat ♬ original sound – Brian Moller | B Mo the Prince “Me in the security chat” quickly emerged on X and Bluesky, alternately to describe how one might look while reading texts about bombing plans, or how out-of-place one might feel being awkwardly included in such texts. Some memes focused on other unexpected parties being added to the “Houthi PC small group” and which further unexpected secrets might be revealed there, while others centered around not being invited to that chat or not being able to leave it. pic.twitter.com/8izx8RWivq— Pekka Kallioniemi (@P_Kallioniemi) March 25, 2025 There have been reenactments, historical and otherwise. The Daily Show’s version, which they rolled out on Instagram, even cross-pollinated the group chat format with another recent political meme—the weird JD Vance photoshops. Beyond a vast assortment of joke formats, though, something else evolved out of Signalgate: the most surreal, extremely online usage of emoji ever captured in a national security setting. Goldberg’s article came with the closest thing to “receipts” the journalist could produce without further jeopardizing national security—selected screenshots. In one of them, Waltz is revealed celebrating the successful bombing campaign with the following emoji: a punching fist, an American flag, and a classic flame. (The trio of symbols does not yet have a collective name, but for the duration of this article, I will refer to it as Team America, a nod to the South Park creators’ 2004 satire of macho jingoism, best known for the earworm “America, F*ck Yeah!”) Within hours of Goldberg’s bombshell dropping, use of the Team America emoji fanned out across X, Bluesky, Reddit, Tiktok, and Instagram. I told an intern his work was good and he just replied «

Mar 26, 2025 - 11:48

‘Signalgate’ has turned a string of patriotic emoji into a meme that will live in infamy

A recent group chat between high-ranking Trump officials may not exactly have been secure, but its place in internet culture certainly is.

The fiasco known as Signalgate introduced what may already be the most infamous group chat in American history, inspiring a flood of memes across all social media realms and unveiling a string of patriotic emoji that now holds a permanent smirking perch in the public lexicon.

According to an eye-popping story from The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, an account attributed to National Security Advisor Mike Waltz invited Goldberg to join a chat called “Houthi PC small group” on encrypted messaging app Signal earlier this month. There, boldfaced names including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance discussed plans to bomb Houthis in Yemen. Although dubious at first, Goldberg realized the chat was authentic when those plans were later confirmed by reality.

After Goldberg published his scorching account of Signalgate on Monday, the internet erupted in speculation. Ironically, group chats across the country were likely consumed with it. The National Security Council quickly confirmed that the messages seemed authentic. Their statement to the press included a meager defense of those involved: “The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials.”

Of course, many social media dwellers thought the thread demonstrated something else: elite memeability.

@bmotheprince
The USA National Security Group Chat ♬ original sound – Brian Moller | B Mo the Prince

“Me in the security chat” quickly emerged on X and Bluesky, alternately to describe how one might look while reading texts about bombing plans, or how out-of-place one might feel being awkwardly included in such texts.

Some memes focused on other unexpected parties being added to the “Houthi PC small group” and which further unexpected secrets might be revealed there, while others centered around not being invited to that chat or not being able to leave it.

pic.twitter.com/8izx8RWivq— Pekka Kallioniemi (@P_Kallioniemi) March 25, 2025

There have been reenactments, historical and otherwise. The Daily Show’s version, which they rolled out on Instagram, even cross-pollinated the group chat format with another recent political meme—the weird JD Vance photoshops.

Beyond a vast assortment of joke formats, though, something else evolved out of Signalgate: the most surreal, extremely online usage of emoji ever captured in a national security setting.

Goldberg’s article came with the closest thing to “receipts” the journalist could produce without further jeopardizing national security—selected screenshots. In one of them, Waltz is revealed celebrating the successful bombing campaign with the following emoji: a punching fist, an American flag, and a classic flame. (The trio of symbols does not yet have a collective name, but for the duration of this article, I will refer to it as Team America, a nod to the South Park creators’ 2004 satire of macho jingoism, best known for the earworm “America, F*ck Yeah!”)

Within hours of Goldberg’s bombshell dropping, use of the Team America emoji fanned out across X, Bluesky, Reddit, Tiktok, and Instagram.

I told an intern his work was good and he just replied «