Trump defends Waltz after Signal breach
President Trump said he still has confidence in national security adviser Mike Waltz in an interview with NBC on Tuesday, following a report by a journalist for The Atlantic who says he was included in a text message chain with officials about plans for an attack on Houthi rebels.
Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief of The Atlantic, wrote ] Monday that he was invited to a group chat on Signal by Waltz, where officials including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth outlined war plans. The National Security Council confirmed the message chain was authentic.
“Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he's a good man,” Trump told NBC’s Garrett Haake.
When asked if he was frustrated about the attention the story has received, Trump called it “the only glitch in two months, and it turned out not to be a serious one.”
The president added that Goldberg’s presence in the chat had “no impact at all” on the operation in Yemen, noting the March 15 strikes were “perfectly successful.”
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday morning also tried to downplay the significance of Goldberg being added to the group chat and argued in a post on the social platform X that no classified materials and no “war plans” were discussed in the Signal chat, echoing comments on Monday night from Hegseth.
Goldberg has said war plans were discussed in the chat, outlining on CNN on Monday night that the chat included “targets were going to be targeted; how they were going to be targeted; who was at the targets; when the next sequence of attacks was happening.”
Trump on Monday had said he knew nothing of the report, asking a reporter what it said and what it had to do with.
The reporter said, “the Houthis.” Trump replied, “You mean the attack on the Houthis?”
“Well, it couldn’t have been very effective, because the attack was very effective, I can tell you that. I don’t know anything about it. You’re telling me about it for the first time,” Trump added at the time.
The White House on Monday also said the president has confidence in Waltz when questioned on the matter.
“As President Trump said, the attacks on the Houthis have been highly successful and effective. President Trump continues to have the utmost confidence in his national security team, including National Security Advisor Mike Waltz,” Leavitt told The Hill in an emailed statement.
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