Trump downplayed the emailing of secret plans for a military strike on Yemen’s Houthis to a group chat including a journalist, calling it “just a single glitch within his administration’s two months.”
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President Trump on Tuesday downplayed the emailing of sensitive plans for a military strike against Yemen’s Houthis to a group chat that included a journalist, calling it “not a big issue” and expressing his continued support for national security adviser Mike Waltz.
Trump’s reaction to the incident, which appeared to surprise him when a reporter first inquired on Monday, comes as Democratic lawmakers criticized his administration for mishandling sensitive information.
Trump stated that the lapse “was not serious,” and maintained his support for national security adviser Mike Waltz.
“Mike Waltz has learned his lesson and he’s a good man,” Trump said. He also seemed to place the blame on an unnamed Waltz aide for including Jeffrey Goldberg, the magazine’s editor-in-chief, in the chat line. “It was one of Mike’s people on the phone. A staffer had his number listed there.”
According to The Atlantic, Waltz appeared to have unintentionally included Jeffrey Goldberg, the magazine’s editor-in-chief, in a chat involving eighteen high administration officials discussing strike preparations against Houthi rebels.
The use of Signal app for discussing a sensitive operation has drawn sharp criticism from Democratic lawmakers who expressed outrage at the White House and senior officials for insisting that no classified information was shared.
Administration officials struggled to explain why a common app was used for such a delicate topic.
Earlier on Tuesday, Waltz stated he was unsure how Goldberg ended up on the chat. “This one, in particular, I’ve never met, don’t know, haven’t communicated with,” Waltz said.
Later, in an interview with FOX News, the national security adviser admitted the mistake and took responsibility.
“We made a mistake. We’re moving forward,” Waltz confessed, taking “full responsibility” for the episode.
Before defeating Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, Trump had called for the former secretary of state to face criminal charges for discussing confidential material with her advisors using a private email server she set up.
The matter was investigated, but the FBI ultimately recommended against charges. No charges were filed.
On Monday, Clinton was among Democrats criticizing Trump’s administration officials’ use of Signal.
“You have got to be kidding me,” she wrote in a post on X, emphasizing the article and including a rolling eyes emoji.
