Donald Trump has spoken out after a journalist was accidentally added to a highly confidential group chat.
It has recently been revealed that The Atlantic magazine's editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was added to a group chat with several senior officials, including national security adviser Mike Waltz.
Waltz — or a member of his team — was the one to add Goldberg to the chat, and the journalist says he saw classified military plans, 'including information about targets, weapons the US would be deploying' two hours before the bombs struck.
As per a piece he penned for the magazine that was published yesterday (March 24), Goldberg received a text from Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, at 11:44am on March 15.
Advert
But Trump has stuck by Waltz despite his faux pas and branded him a 'good man', alluding that the advisor won't be facing any punishment for his mistake.
Speaking in a phone interview with NBC News, the POTUS said: "Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man."
He went on to insist that Goldberg's presence in the chat had 'no impact at all' on the military operation.
The news outlet went on to ask Trump how the journalist came to be accidentally added to the high security chat, to which he replied: "It was one of Michael’s people on the phone. A staffer had his number on there."
He seemed rather unfazed by the whole thing, in fact, and that the mishap was 'the only glitch in two months, and it turned out not to be a serious one'.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt echoed similar sentiments to Trump in a press release.
"President Trump continues to have the utmost confidence in his national security team, including National Security Advisor Mike Waltz," she said.
Goldberg was in the text thread for a few days and saw a lot of discussions that took place.
It wasn't until yesterday that the journalist made his presence in the chat known by leaving it, and he reached out to Waltz and others to ask if he was meant to be privvy to the discussions.
Brian Hughes, the spokesman for the National Security Council, ended up responding to him.
His message read: "This appears to be an authentic message chain, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain.
The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials. The ongoing success of the Houthi operation demonstrates that there were no threats to troops or national security."
Topics: Donald Trump, News, US News
Niamh Shackleton