Given that Wilson was so eager to get us into the war it is not very hard to believe the whole thing was hoax. From November 25 1783 until Wilson ordered it discontinued in 1916, Americans celebrated Evacuation Day as the day the last English ship left New York harbor. Evacuation day was a bigger celebration than July 4th but Wilson didn’t want to offend the British so he killed it. Democrats will do things like that. Read more on the climate of the days leading up to April 6, 1917 just weeks after Wilson was reelected on a promise not to get us into the war. German Americans did not want to fight Germany for England and Irish Americans felt the same way. Wilson gave Puerto Ricans limited citizenship specifically so he could draft Puerto Rican men into the Army since very few Americans wanted to get into Europe’s war.
Except that when asked, Zimmermann said, "Yes, it's true, I sent it". If he had denied it, there would be no way to prove him wrong without exposing the British cryptanalysis that had gotten the telegram to Wilson.
The Zimmermann telegram ranks high on the list of "most boneheaded moves in history". Had the Germans not sent it, America's entry to the war would likely have been delayed further, and not much of a delay would have been needed in order for the Germans to have taken Paris in spring 1918.
Change the names of the New England Patriots and Philadelphia 76ers. The latter in particular is VERY offensive to the British