Mar 25, 2025 - Politics & Policy

👊🇺🇸🔥: Michael Waltz's emoji trio reaction to Yemen strikes goes viral

Angrej Singh

Mike Waltz, US national security adviser, speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC. — Mike Waltz, national security adviser, speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on March 7. Photo: Chris Kleponis/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images

National security adviser Michael Waltz's fist, American flag and fire emoji combo (👊🇺🇸🔥) response to strikes on Yemen is taking on a social media life of its own after an The Atlantic editor was accidentally added to a Signal chat discussing the attacks.

The big picture: The emojis are being co-opted by both pro- and anti-Trump sides to convey a sense of agreement or positive, supportive reaction to a statement or action.

State of play: During an exchange with Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) pulled out a board that displayed the 👊🇺🇸🔥 emojis, saying that "from now on when we do things where we agree, I'll just hold this up rather than giving a really big long speech."

The House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats account on X quoted a post with that shows Waltz saying, "This journalist, Mr. President, wants the world talking about more hoaxes and this kind of nonsense rather than the freedom that you are enabling," with 👊🇺🇸🔥 emojis.
Bill Kristol, director of Defending Democracy Together, posted: "Shouldn't👊🇺🇸🔥 become an ironic meme? Call it the Waltz."

Context: Waltz sent the 👊🇺🇸🔥 emojis in a Signal group chat called "Houthi PC small group" a few hours after explosions were being heard across Sanaa, the capital city of Yemen, according to Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, who was accidentally added.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice President Vance were among the 18 people in the Signal chat.
Goldberg removed himself from the Signal group after he concluded that group texts were real.

Go deeper: Top 4 takeaways from Trump Cabinet's explosive leak of Yemen war plans

Editor's note: This story was corrected to show the order of emojis that Michael Waltz put in the Signal chat was 👊🇺🇸🔥.

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👊🇺🇸🔥: Michael Waltz's emoji trio reaction to Yemen strikes goes viral

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