National Security Advisor Michael Waltz assumed “full responsibility” for a leaked Signal group chat of senior Trump officials that discussed plans for a forthcoming strike on the Houthis in Yemen.
“I take full responsibility. I built the group,” Waltz said on “The Ingraham Angle” Tuesday. “It’s embarrassing. We’re going to get to the bottom of it.”
TRUMP REVEALS WHO WAS BEHIND SIGNAL TEXT CHAIN LEAK
Jeffrey Goldberg, the Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, penned a first-person account of getting a connection request from what appeared to be Trump’s National Security Advisor Michael Waltz on March 11 on Signal, a popular encrypted messaging service used by journalists and government officials. He accepted and was then added to a chat group called “Houthi PC Small Group,” where he proceeded to see a series of top Trump officials discuss what turned out to be an upcoming attack on the Houthis, in what critics are calling a massive breach of national security.
Several Trump officials were reportedly in the chat, including Waltz, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
The president was asked about the story at the White House on Monday but appeared unbothered, and took a shot at The Atlantic when asked about its involvement.
“I don’t know anything about it. I’m not a big fan of the Atlantic,” he told a reporter. “To me, it’s a magazine that’s going out of business. I think it’s not much of a magazine, but I know nothing about it.”
Trump defended Waltz in comment to Fox News on Tuesday, saying the national security advisor will not be fired over the incident.
“He’s not getting fired,” Trump told Fox News. The president said the incident was a “mistake,” though there was “nothing important” in the Signal text thread.
TRUMP SAYS WALTZ DOESN’T NEED TO APOLOGIZE OVER SIGNAL TEXT CHAIN LEAK: ‘DOING HIS BEST’
The president also said that a staffer from Waltz’s office inadvertently included the editor-in-chief of the Atlantic in the Signal group chat during his interview with NBC on Tuesday. Trump added that Goldberg’s inclusion in the group chat had “no impact at all” on the strike in Yemen.
“Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man,” Trump told NBC in a phone interview Tuesday.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt added in a social media post on Tuesday that “No ‘war plans’ were discussed” in the group chat, and that “no classified material was sent to the thread.”
“As the National Security Council stated, the White House is looking into how Goldberg’s number was inadvertently added to the thread. Thanks to the strong and decisive leadership of President Trump, and everyone in the group, the Houthi strikes were successful and effective. Terrorists were killed and that’s what matters most to President Trump,” she added.
Some Democrats have called for Waltz and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to resign Tuesday following the apparent national security breach.
“We made a mistake. We’re moving forward, and we’re going to continue to knock it out of the park for this president,” Waltz said.
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Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman, Emma Colton and David Rutz contributed to this report.
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