National Security Advisor Michael Waltz has publicly acknowledged responsibility for the leak of a Signal group chat among senior Trump administration officials, which reportedly discussed plans for a forthcoming strike against the Houthis in Yemen, Fox News reports.
Speaking on “The Ingraham Angle” Tuesday, Waltz stated:
“I take full responsibility. I built the group. It’s embarrassing. We’re going to get to the bottom of it.”
The leak, reported by The Atlantic, prompted questions about potential national security breaches. President Trump addressed the issue Monday at the White House, appearing unconcerned and instead taking aim at the magazine.
“I don’t know anything about it. I’m not a big fan of The Atlantic,” Trump said. “To me, it’s a magazine that’s going out of business. I think it’s not much of a magazine, but I know nothing about it.”
Waltz also directed harsh criticism at The Atlantic and its editor, Jeffrey Goldberg:
“I can tell you for 100% I don’t know this guy. I know him by his horrible reputation, and he really is the bottom scum of journalists. And I know him in the sense that he hates the president, but I don’t text him. He wasn’t on my phone. And we’re going to figure out how this happened.”
He further alleged that Goldberg had “lied about the president, who has lied to Gold Star families, lied to their attorneys and gone to Russia hoax, gone to just all kinds of lengths to lie and smear the president of the United States – and he’s the one that somehow gets on somebody’s contact and then gets sucked into this group.”
The Atlantic responded to the criticism via “The Ingraham Angle:”
“Attempts to disparage and discredit The Atlantic, our editor, and our reporting follow an obvious playbook by elected officials and others in power who are hostile to journalists and the First Amendment rights of all Americans…”
Despite calls from some Democrats for Waltz and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to resign in the wake of the incident, President Trump defended Waltz in a Tuesday comment to Fox News, assuring that the National Security Advisor would not be fired.
“He’s not getting fired,” Trump told Fox News, characterizing the incident as a “mistake” and claiming that “nothing important” was discussed in the Signal thread.
Waltz also addressed President Trump’s comments to NBC on Tuesday, suggesting a staffer from Waltz’s office was responsible for adding Goldberg to the group chat. During the same interview, Trump maintained that Goldberg’s inclusion had “no impact at all” on the strike in Yemen.
“Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man,” Trump told NBC.
Echoing the sentiment, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on social media Tuesday that “No ‘war plans’ were discussed” in the group chat, and that “no classified material was sent to the thread.”
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