Donald Trump’s national security advisor, Michael Waltz, stated that he takes “full responsibility” for adding a journalist to a group chat, leading to the leak of information about a planned airstrike on Yemen.
His comments came a day after Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, revealed that he had been part of a group chat on Signal, a private messaging app, where Vice President J.D. Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and other high-profile figures were discussing “operational details of the planned attack on Yemen.”
Goldberg claims he was added to the chat by mistake and remained unnoticed while members of the president’s cabinet debated policy and planned bombing operations. Critics argue that this incident compromised U.S. national security.
Although Waltz accepted responsibility, he continued to deflect blame, insulted Goldberg, and called the mistake inexplicable, The Guardian reports.
“It’s embarrassing, yes. But we will get to the bottom of it,” he said, adding that he had consulted with Elon Musk. “We have the best tech minds investigating how this happened. The staff is not responsible. I take full responsibility. I created the group, and it was my job to ensure everything was coordinated.”
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When asked how the journalist ended up in the group, Waltz responded: “Have you ever had someone’s contact, and someone’s number? Of course, I didn’t see this loser in the group. It looked like someone else. Whether he did it intentionally or it was just a technical coincidence—that’s what we’re trying to figure out.”
He said he does not know Goldberg, nor have they ever communicated, calling him “the biggest journalistic scum.” He also criticized the media for focusing on the controversy.
Although Waltz claimed the staff was not responsible, Trump stated that he “believes someone was on the line, someone with clearance, someone who… worked with Waltz at a lower level, had Goldberg’s number, or a call through the app. That’s how this guy ended up in the chat.”
“He’s a good man who learned a lesson,” Trump said about Waltz, downplaying the incident by saying it was the only issue to occur in the past two months.
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Source: Nedeljnik, Foto: Reuters / Leah Millis