President Donald Trump defended his national security adviser Mike Waltz amid the backlash he’s facing for accidentally adding The Atlantic’s Editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a group chat discussing war plans in Yemen.
“Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man,” Trump told NBC News on Tuesday.
Goldberg claimed he was added to the Signal group chat after receiving a request from a user called Waltz.
Trump said, “It was one of Michael’s people on the phone; a staffer had his number on there.”
The Signal chat also included Vice President J.D. Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
Operational details were shared with the group at 11:44 a.m., and “the bombs started dropping in Yemen around 2 p.m.,” Goldberg said.
Despite the egregious mishap, President Trump maintained his confidence in his team, noting that it had “no impact at all” on the operation.
“[The Atlantic’s story] was the only glitch in two months, and it turned out not to be a serious one,” he said.
