Mike Waltz takes 'full responsibility' for Goldberg-compromised group chat: 'Embarrassing'

National security adviser Mike Waltz assumed "full responsibility" Tuesday for inviting a rabid anti-Trump polemicist into a private group chat where senior administration officials including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance discussed attacks on Iran-backed Houthi terrorists.

President Donald Trump made clear that this assumption of responsibility would not be professionally fatal, indicating that the former Florida congressman's job was safe.

Trump told NBC News that "Michael Waltz has learned a lesson" and that the story is a non-issue.

Quick background

Waltz reportedly sent a connection request on the encrypted messaging app Signal to Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor in chief of the Atlantic, on March 11. Then two days later, he apparently invited Goldberg into a group chat called the "Houthi PC small group."

Goldberg isn't just any Trump-obsessed rumor-monger; he is the man behind the debunked "f**king Mexican" burial story, the "'losers' and 'suckers'" hoax, and numerous other smears that Democrats have tried to politically weaponize.

The group chat was reportedly crowded with top officials in the Trump administration, including Hegseth, Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe. Goldberg, whose presence somehow went unnoticed, observed these individuals discussing airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen; implications of the strikes for trade; messaging about the attacks; and the relative uselessness of European navies.

While Goldberg was more than happy to publish screenshots of relatively innocuous exchanges in the group chat — including Vance's stated frustration with "bailing Europe out again" — he initially omitted the "war plans" that Hegseth supposedly shared in the chat two hours ahead of strikes on Yemen, claiming they contained sensitive information. The Atlantic has since published the supposed "war plans," which appear to have been a detail-light mission summary.

The administration ultimately confirmed that the message chain discussed in Goldberg's Monday article was authentic but disputed the polemicist's suggestion that Hegseth shared "war plans," certainly not of a sensitive or classified nature.

Hegseth told reporters that contrary to what was asserted by the "deceitful and highly discredited so-called journalist," "nobody was texting war plans."

'The Atlantic is a failed magazine, does very poorly; nobody gives a damn about it.'

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt underscored that no war plans were discussed, "no classified material was sent to the thread," and the "White House Counsel's Office has provided guidance on a number of different platforms for President Trump's top officials to communicate as safely and efficiently as possible."

As Democrats and the liberal media tried to make the most out of the scandal, there were apparently discussions at the White House about what fate might befall Waltz.

While unnamed White House staffers told Politico that the general consensus was that "Mike Waltz is a f***king idiot" and there was debate over whether to can him, top administration officials told Axios that Waltz would survive the scandal.

Accountability and mercy

Fox News' Laura Ingraham asked Waltz Tuesday evening, "How did a Trump-hating editor of the Atlantic end up on your Signal chat?"

Waltz told the legacy media host that he is "not a conspiracy theorist," then insinuated that Goldberg may have infiltrated the group chat by unseemly means or with an insider's help.

"I just talked to Elon [Musk] on the way here. We have the best technical minds looking at how this happened," said Waltz. "But I can tell you, I can tell you for 100%, I don’t know this guy. I know him by his horrible reputation, and he really is the bottom scum of journalists. And I know him in the sense that he hates the president, but I don't text him. He wasn't on my phone, and we're going to figure out how this happened."

Karoline Leavitt later confirmed that "Elon Musk's team of experts are looking at this, the White House Counsel's Office, and the National Security Counsel are all digging into this matter of course to ensure this can never happen again."

While Waltz indicated that Goldberg's invitation is presently a mystery, he furnished Ingraham with a simple explanation: Goldberg's number was in his phone under the wrong name.

"I'm sure everybody out there has had a contact where it ... said one person and then [showed] a different phone number," said the national security adviser, adding that his blunder was "embarrassing."

"But you've never talked to him before, so how is the number on your phone?" said Ingraham. "I'm not an expert on any of this, but how is the number on your phone?"

When Ingraham chased the implication that someone on Trump's or Waltz's team might be to blame, Waltz clarified that key Trump officials and staff on the call were blameless, stating, "I take full responsibility. I built the — I built the group. My job is to make sure everything is coordinated."

During a Tuesday meeting with American ambassadors, Trump told reporters that Goldberg is "a total sleazebag" and stated, "The Atlantic is a failed magazine, does very poorly; nobody gives a damn about it."

'I think it was very unfair the way they attacked Michael.'

"That man is a very good man right there that you criticize so strongly," said Trump, referring to Waltz. "He will continue to do a good job."

The president further indicated that Goldberg's presence on the chat had no impact on the strikes and that no classified information was shared in the chat.

"If it was classified information, it's probably a little bit different. But I always say you have to learn from every experience," said Trump. "I think it was very unfair the way they attacked Michael. He's a good person. The person that was on just happens to be a sleazebag."

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