Donald Trump has provided his perspective following an incident where a journalist was mistakenly included in a top-secret group chat.
It has emerged that Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine, was inadvertently added to a chat involving multiple senior officials, including national security adviser Mike Waltz.
Goldberg was added by Waltz or a member of his team, allowing the journalist access to classified military plans. He mentioned seeing details about targets and U.S. military deployments ‘including information about targets, weapons the US would be deploying’ just hours before operations commenced.
In an article published on March 24, Goldberg described receiving a message from Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense, at 11:44am on March 15.
Despite the error, Trump expressed support for Waltz, describing him as a ‘good man’ and suggesting that the advisor would not be penalized for the mistake.
In a telephone interview with NBC News, Trump remarked: “Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man.”
He emphasized that Goldberg’s inclusion in the chat did not affect the military operation, stating it had ‘no impact at all’.
When pressed by the news outlet on how the journalist was mistakenly added, Trump explained: “It was one of Michael’s people on the phone. A staffer had his number on there.”
Trump appeared unconcerned, characterizing the incident as ‘the only glitch in two months, and it turned out not to be a serious one’.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt echoed Trump’s confidence in a public statement.
“President Trump continues to have the utmost confidence in his national security team, including National Security Advisor Mike Waltz,” she stated.
Goldberg remained in the chat for several days, observing many ongoing discussions.
It was only yesterday that Goldberg exited the chat, subsequently contacting Waltz and others to clarify if his inclusion was intentional.
Brian Hughes, the spokesman for the National Security Council, eventually responded to Goldberg.
His response 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.”