President Trump claimed on Tuesday that he felt “very comfortable” after his top staff member was explained to include the editor-in-chief of Atlantic Magazine in a signal chat group that discussed military strikes against the Houtis in Yemen.
“There was no classification information. There was no problem. And the attack was a huge success,” Trump said in an interview with Newsmax host Greg Kelly on Tuesday night.
“You can go just by what I was told,” the president added. “I wasn't involved in it, but I was told – and the other people weren't involved at all. But I actually feel very comfortable.”
“Other People” Trump appears to be 18 high-ranking administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who participated in a deliberation hosted by National Security Adviser Mike Waltz regarding the March 15 Air Strike.
Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg was incorrectly included in the pre-attack discussion after receiving a request to connect to a waltz encrypted app. The journalist revealed in Monday's bomb report.
“I think what we believe is someone who was in line with permission and someone who was with Mike Waltz was working at a lower level at Mike Waltz, or they were calling through the app.
The president's explanation reflects what he said. NBC News Earlier on Tuesday, however, it contradicts what Waltz claimed.
“It was one of the people at Michael on the phone. The staff had it. [Goldberg’s] Trump told the news network that Goldberg's presence in the chat group “has no effect on military operations at all.”
Trump further described the incident as “the only glitch in two months, but it turned out to be not serious.”
He also expressed confidence that Waltz will continue as his top national security aide.
“Michael Waltz learned a lesson and he's a good guy,” Trump said.
Meanwhile, Waltz told Fox News' Laura Ingraham that “staff were not responsible” about the loop at Goldberg.
“Look, I'm totally responsible,” Waltz told the “Ingraham Angle” host. “I've built a group. My job is to make sure everything is coordinated.”
White House officials did not provide an explanation of how Goldberg's number turned into “someone else's” contact information.
“I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but of all the people there, somehow, I lied to the Gold Star family, lied to lawyers, went to Russian hoaxes, lied to lies, went to all sorts of lengths to paint the US president,” he bumps into this group. “Emotional” accident.
