Trump Forcefully Defends National Security Adviser Over War Plans Debacle

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump forcefully defended his national security adviser, Mike Waltz, on Tuesday, as reporters and a large segment of official Washington continued to ask how a magazine editor was accidentally included in a high-level, private conversation among administration officials during which military plans were discussed.

“That man is a very good man,” Trump said as he gestured toward Waltz during a Cabinet Room event introducing the administration’s team of newly minted ambassadors.

“He’s a very good man, and he will continue to do a good job,” the president said, adding that others ensnared in the controversy by their participation in the meeting were also “very good people” who “have done a very, very effective job.”

The blow-up began shortly after noon on Monday, when The Atlantic published a piece online by its editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, who revealed he’d been included in a text conversation via the Signal app in which the administration planned airstrikes targeting Houthi rebels across Yemen.

The U.S. strikes on the rebels, who have long threatened maritime trade along the east coast of Africa, while also being a nemesis of Israel, began on March 15, and have continued ever since.

Trump is targeting the group, alternately described as pirates and terrorists, as part of an effort to also apply pressure on Iran, the Houthis’ main supporter in the region.

Goldberg wrote that while the world found out about the initial airstrikes shortly before 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 15, he knew hours earlier — at 11:44 a.m. — because “Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, had texted me the war plan.”

The plan included precise information about weapons packages, targets and timing, Goldberg said.

Later Monday afternoon, during a major economic development announcement in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Trump said he didn’t know anything about the claims made in the article, but went on to slam The Atlantic, calling it a “failed magazine” that “nobody cares about.”

By Tuesday morning, the president was well on top of the brewing crisis, telling NBC News during a telephone interview that a staffer in Waltz’s office had inadvertently included the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic in a Signal group chat.

He also said Goldberg’s presence in the chat had “no impact” on the military operation.

Asked Tuesday afternoon whether he planned any changes “of practices” that his national security team uses, Trump said it was a question he’s been asked and the answer “has always been the same.”

“We have an amazing group, national security now is stronger than it’s ever been,” he said.

He also noted that the ongoing attacks against the Houthis “have been very, very successful.”

“These are people that shoot down ships,” he said. “They shoot them right out of the water, damaging them very badly.

“They’re also shooting at anything that happens to be flying in the area,” the president continued, adding, “we hit them very, very hard.”

He also reiterated that no classified information was disclosed during the conversation.

Trump then turned to The Atlantic and Goldberg personally, calling the editor “a total sleeper.”

“The Atlantic is a failed magazine that does very, very poorly,” he said. “Nobody gives a damn about it. [This story] gives it a little bit of a shot. This is publicity for them.

“But I will tell you this, they’ve made up more stories and it’s just … a failing magazine. The public understands that.”

Asked outright if he will ban the use of the Signal messaging app by administration officials, Trump suggested it might not be necessary after a single — albeit high-profile — incident.

“I don’t know anything about Signal. I wasn’t involved in this, I just heard about it after the fact, but I hear this messaging app is used by a lot of groups. It’s used by the media a lot. It’s used a lot by the military, successfully, but sometimes, somebody can get onto those things.

“That’s one of the prices you pay when you’re not sitting in the Situation Room, with no phones on, which is always the best, frankly,” Trump said.

“In fact, just last week I was in the Situation Room on something very important, and we had a couple of people hooked up by a line and I said, ‘Cancel the line,’ and then, ‘Sorry fellas, we’ll tell you all about the meeting later.’

“Because I know people do get on those lines, whether it’s Signal or anything else,” he said.

Trump was then asked whether he plans any procedural changes as a result of the flap.

“We look at everything,” he said before going on to suggest the controversy is a lot being made over relatively little.

“They’ve made a big deal out of this because we’ve had two perfect months,” the president said. “We are bringing in business. We have another one that’s going to be announced tomorrow — a big one, a very big one, like in the history of our country.

“And I think, probably, a lot of people were saying we had the greatest first month that a president has ever had. And I think that’s true. And now they say it’s the best second month … but they had to find something [to criticize].

“The main thing is, nothing happened,” Trump continued. “The attack was totally successful. And no classified information was disclosed. But I always say, ‘You have to learn from every experience.’

“I do think it was very unfair the way they attacked Michael. He’s a good person,” the president said, before again dismissing Goldberg as “a sleaze bag.”

Despite Trump’s repeatedly addressing the matter, Goldberg’s story continued to roil lawmakers on Capitol Hill. 

In a letter sent to the president on Monday, more than a dozen Democratic senators demanded that some kind of disciplinary action be meted out against at least some and perhaps all of those who participated in the chat session.

“It does not take much imagination to consider the likely ramifications if this information had been made public prior to the strike — or worse, if it had been shared with or visible to an adversary rather than a reporter who seems to have a better grasp of how to handle classified information than your national security advisor,” the senators wrote.

They went on to say the incident revealed “an astonishingly cavalier approach to national security” by administration officials.

At least one lawmaker, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called for Waltz and Hegseth to resign.

On Tuesday Trump was asked if it would be a problem if The Atlantic released the text messages from the session in their entirety.

“I’d have to ask the military about that, because maybe they wouldn’t want that,” the president said. “I will say this, from what I heard, the man we’re talking about found it very boring, and he got off the line very early. So, I can’t speak to it other than that.”

He also brushed aside a question about whether there will be an FBI investigation into what happened.

“It’s not really an FBI thing,” the president said. “It’s really more of a question of security, of, ‘Will somebody be able to break [into a conversation on the app]?’ If so, we’re going to have to find some other form of … device.

“Some people like Signal very much; other people probably don’t. But we’ll look into it. I’ve asked Michael to do an immediate study and find out if people are able to break into the system. But in this case, nobody found out anything. As I said, the person involved, as I understand it, left very early because he didn’t find it very exciting. But I think it’s something we should look into,” the president said.

Earlier on Tuesday, during his weekly briefing with reporters, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was also asked about the situation.

“Well, look, the White House has come out with a statement in which they clarified that no classified material was sent on that thread,” Johnson said. “The White House counsel is looking into the matter, looking into how this other number was inadvertently added.

“Obviously it was a mistake and a serious one, but I just want to say, the leaders who were on that group chat are extraordinary people. I know them all personally. They are patriots. And they are doing a great job for this country,” he continued.

“They were engaged in doing what the American people expect the administration to do, which is restoring peace and taking out terrorists,” Johnson said.

Asked whether he believes anyone should lose their job over what happened, the speaker said, “That’s for others to decide.

“I don’t personally use Signal, but I would say, obviously, we have got to be careful with these things. That said, Mike Waltz is a former colleague, a former member of Congress, and I believe he was born for the job. He is highly qualified. And the president said he has total confidence in him,” Johnson said.

In a written statement provided to The Well News, The Atlantic responded to Trump’s comments.

“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,” the statement said.

“Our journalists are continuing to fearlessly and independently report the truth in the public interest,” the statement said in conclusion.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue