The Trump team is scrambling to minimize the political damage from sensitive information being discussed on a group chat that accidentally included a veteran journalist.
National security adviser Mike Waltz argued this morning that no locations, sources or methods were mentioned, thus the texts were not considered war plans.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt parsed words with The Atlantic's headline. She argues the story is a "hoax" because the second article referred to "attack plans" instead of "war plans."
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth defended himself Tuesday, arguing, "I know exactly what I'm doing." 📹 Watch the clip
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard admitted that adding the journalist was a "mistake," but she didn't directly address whether it was appropriate to use Signal for high-level national security discussions.
Waltz did an interview with Fox News's Laura Ingraham where he also admitted that "we made a mistake."
But here's a lingering question — how did Jeffrey Goldberg's number get added to the chat?
Waltz, who started the group thread, claims he doesn't even know Goldberg. President Trump famously despises leaks within his administration. Having the number of a journalist who has sparred with the Trump administration for years would not be a good look.
Ingraham: "But you've never talked to him before, so how's the number on your phone? I mean I'm not an expert on any of this, but it's just curious — how's the number on your phone?."
Waltz: "Well, if you have somebody else's contact and then somehow it gets sucked in."
📹 Watch this clip — I find the body language fascinating in this.
^ I'm pretty sure I've had this same conversation with a friend promising to delete their ex's number but then texting them. Idk, somehow the number got sucked in.
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